Manitobans now know when they’ll be heading to the polls for the provincial election after Premier Brian Pallister made it official Wednesday that votes will be cast on Sept. 10.
But at the announcement, Pallister brushed off the suggestion that Manitobans would be suffering from too much politics during the summer.
“I know Manitobans are very interested in the future of this province, and I know they’ll be engaged,” said Pallister. “We’ll do our very best to engage them.”
Pollster Mary Agnes Welch said the big push from the parties and voters will take place in the final week of the campaign.
“I think we will see the bulk of the action in that last week right after Labour Day,” she said. “That’s going to be the big ‘we need to take this seriously’ moment.”
Another election is also on the horizon for voters.
There are just just six weeks separating Manitoba’s provinicial election from Canada’s federal election on Oct. 21. Some voters fear that two elections in such a short amount of time is too much.
“It’s a little bit of an overload,” said Rock Jerome. “But it’s good that he’s getting it in before the federal election.”
“I think its gonna be hard to really communicate effectively with voters,” said Christa Mask. “A lot of people really do try to check out for the summer.”
The last time a provincial campaign stretched into the summer was in 1999 when Gary Doer was elected premier on Sept. 21. Voter turnout was 68 per cent for that election.
WATCH: Manitobans will head to the polls on September 10: Brian Pallister