More than 10,000 voters have already cast their ballots in the provincial election across Newmarket and Aurora’s two ridings, but early voting is down compared to 2022.
Newmarket-Aurora saw 6,286 people cast ballots during a three-day advance voting period Feb. 20 to 22, representing about 6.42 per cent of eligible voters. This is slightly above the 6.14 per cent average figure across the province, according to Elections Ontario.
Meanwhile, Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill saw 4,402 ballots cast, representing about 4.88 per cent of the eligible voters in that riding.
“Thank you to all voters who participated in advance voting and to the dedicated staff who worked to keep the voting process in Ontario safe, efficient, and secure,” chief electoral officer of Ontario Greg Essensa said in a news release.
Across the province, early voting turnout was down. In 2022, 9.92 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot during an early voting period of 10 days. That election still ended up having a historically low turnout, at 44.06 per cent. Before that, in 2018, advance voting turnout was at 6.8 per cent over five days.
Election day is Feb. 27, but early voting is still possible at local election offices until Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. In Newmarket-Aurora, that’s at entrance three of Upper Canada Mall at 17600 Yonge St., and in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, that’s at 14824 Yonge St. in Aurora.
Voting will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on election day. You can find information on election-day polling locations at voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca.
You can find a voter information card either mailed to you or through the Elections Ontario app, but they are not a requirement to vote. A full list of accepted identification is available on the Elections Ontario website.