Less than 10 per cent of eligible voters in two Ontario byelections have chosen to cast early votes as polling day nears, according to data from Elections Ontario.
Voters in both Scarborough—Guildwood and Kanata—Carleton are voting to replace Ontario MPPs who resigned their seats.
In Scarborough, Liberal Mitzie Hunter stood down to run for Toronto mayor, while in the Ottawa area, former PC cabinet minister Merrilee Fullerton also resigned.
Both were re-elected during the most recent provincial election in June 2022. That election saw Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives win a majority with 83 seats.
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Interest in selecting their successors, however, appears low based on early figures.
A total of 6,664 voters — 7.34 per cent of those eligible — cast an early ballot in Kanata-Carleton. That’s a drop from nine per cent who voted early in June.
In Scarborough, the turnout was even lower.
According to Elections Ontario, just 2,565 (3.6 per cent) eligible voters turnout at advance polling. The figure is less than half of June’s advance polling total in Scarborough—Guildwood of 6,184.
The low advance poll turnouts come after a provincial election in 2022 that early data suggested had the worst turnout in the history of the province.
Turnout in June 2022 was around 43 per cent, according to election data the day after votes were counted. That compared to 57 per cent in 2018, with other recent elections ranging from 48 per cent turnout to 66 per cent.
In June, across Ontario, advance polls generated roughly a quarter of the total ballots cast.
Election day in both Scarborough—Guildwood and Kanata—Carleton is July 27, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
— with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues
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