Voter turnout down in Summerside and Cornwall, up in Stratford
Election report to be drafted by early December
Voter turnout was down in two of the four municipalities where Elections P.E.I. administered the election.
Cornwall saw a decrease from 53 per cent in 2014 to 49.3 per cent this year. Summerside went from 65 per cent turnout in 2014 to 58.58 per cent this time around.
"Well I was kind of shocked to see that they were either status quo or maybe even dropping a little bit because the polls were so extremely busy all day long on election day," Paul Alan, manager of operations and communications with Elections P.E.I. said.
"Overall there was a lot of interest and a lot of talk on the street, in the coffee shops, anywhere you go. There was great coverage on the media."
Stratford's turnout increased by almost 10 per cent, at 50.44 per cent compared with 41 per cent in 2014, and Charlottetown saw a small jump from 58 per cent in 2014 to 58.44 per cent this year.
The decreases were despite new efforts by Elections P.E.I. to expand the number of Islanders casting ballots.
Polls set up on UPEI and Holland College campuses as part of a pilot project saw limited engagement, with 61 votes cast at UPEI and about 20 from Holland College.
"We did offer those other extra opportunities and it's avenues that we can certainly explore and expand upon. Some were pilot projects like the campus voting and we've never done voting at the [Returning] Office for municipal elections," he said.
"So we looked at all these different opportunities and we'll be refining them once again to hopefully engage the electors to come out in bigger numbers next time."
Alan lauded the efforts of UPEI's student union in their work to try and get students out to vote.
Tim Garrity, chief electoral officer with Elections P.E.I., said he will be drafting a report on the election by early December.
The report will include recommendations for future elections, including an "amendment to allow for the counting of the advanced ballots early as they are counted in the Provincial Election process," Garrity said in an email to CBC.
Automatic recount called
An automatic recount in Summerside's Ward 8 must happen before Nov. 12, according to Alan.
Automatic recounts are called when candidate's vote totals are within 10 of each other.
On election night, Carrie Adams and incumbent Tyler DesRoches were locked in a tight race for Ward 8.
The final, unofficial tally on the night had Adams ahead of DesRoches by just five votes, which triggered the recount.