Thousands of Montrealers vote in advance polls

Nearly 60,000 Montreal voters cast ballots on Sunday in advance polls for the Nov. 1 municipal elections.

Montreal election officer Emmanuel Tani-Moore said 57,759 people in Montreal, representing about 5.25 per cent of eligible voters took advantage of Sunday's advance polls. 

That turnout is higher than the 2005 municipal election when 2.96 per cent of voters cast advance ballots.

Tani-Moore couldn't say why advance polls drew twice as many voters this weekend compared to 2005 — although changes in advance polling rules may have been a factor.

People did not have to provide a valid reason to vote at the advance poll this year, unlike in previous municipal elections.

The advance poll turnout may foreshadow a higher turnout in the main poll next weekend, said Harold Chorney, a political scientist at Concordia University.

Montrealers may be offended by the appearance of widespread corruption at city hall, Chorney said, and the population may respond by marching to the ballot box.

"Maybe this is their way of answering that by saying, 'Damn you guys, we're going to try to clean up the system by voting for people we believe to be honest and good politicians,"' Chorney said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Montreal's municipal campaign heated up last week after mayoral candidate Louise Harel ordered her right-hand man Benoit Labonté to pull out of the race, following allegations of corruption implicating the construction business.

The 2005 municipal election drew only 35 per cent of registered voters in Montreal.

Advance polling continues in some Quebec regions on Monday.