Voter turnout jumps 8 points in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador experienced a surge in voter turnout on Monday as more than 61 per cent of registered voters in the province cast ballots.

It's a jump of eight percentage points from 2011, when 53 per cent of people voted, according to preliminary results from Elections Canada.

These results do not include the additional voters who registered on election day.

The highest turnouts were in the two St. John's ridings where roughly two thirds of people took to the polls. In St. John's East, 67.81 per cent voted, in St. John's South-Mount Pearl 66.9 per cent voted.

The lowest voter turnout in the province was in Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame where 55.61 per cent of pre-registered voters cast ballots.

Across Canada. this has been the highest national voter turnout since 1993, at a 68.49 per cent. Seven per cent more Canadians voted in this election than in 2011.