Saint John East byelection may see strong voter turnout

A strong voter turnout is expected for the Saint John East byelection today.

Many byelections suffer depressed voter turnout rates due in part to voter fatigue.

But voting was up during the two days of advance polls, according to Elections New Brunswick.

About 1,152 advance ballots were cast in the Saint John East byelection, compared to 917 votes during the general election in September, the figures show.

There were another roughly 400 special ballots cast as of Friday, according to the elections agency.

The byelection was prompted when Liberal Gary Keating, who won the Sept. 22 election by nine votes, suddenly resigned citing the negative impact it would have on his family and health.

"The general election count numbers were 55 per cent turnout, so I’m thinking that people are understanding how important their vote is, and having this byelection will certainly show that," said Tory candidate Glen Savoie, who lost to Keating by only nine votes.

"I think the numbers will prove out that it’s going to be a very strong turnout for the byelection," he said.

Liberal candidate Shelley Rinehart, who is the deputy mayor of Saint John, said she is urging people to take the time to vote.

"You know, it certainly has not been long since people were at the polls, but I’m certainly encouraging them to get out to vote because it’s a very important decision for Saint John," said Rinehart.

NDP Leader Dominic Cardy decided to run in the byelection despite announcing on Sept. 22 his intention to resign.

Cardy lost in his home riding of Fredericton West-Hanwell. Cardy also lost in an attempt to win a seat during the Rothesay byelection in 2012.

He said he believes the high number of advance ballots indicate an increased interest in this byelection.

"I think there’s a lot of people who wanted to get out and express the fact that they were a bit disappointed about having to have this byelection in the first place and people wanting to get a strong MLA in there," said Cardy.

Cardy said the NDP put a lot of effort into turning voters out to the advance polls and have them cast special ballots.

"So I think that’s part of what you’re seeing reflected in those larger numbers is that instead of just the two old-line parties doing what they usually do, there’s a strong third party there now really pushing to get out the vote and say, ‘Look, we can have a change and we can actually make a difference and Saint John East can be heard in Fredericton,'" he said.

Cardy said he is encouraged by the numbers.

"It’s great that there are lots of different voices out there campaigning, but in the end I think it’s a question of do you want a backbench Liberal or Tory MLA, or do you want a party leader who’s going to be able to speak up for you every single day?"

Green Party candidate Sharon Murphy thinks the advance polls show people are recognizing the need to vote.

"Last time it was a general election, there was not much focus on east Saint John. But this time, everybody’s looking towards east Saint John and I think all that attention is actually helping wake people up to realize that it’s our democratic responsibility to get out and vote," she said.

"It remains to be seen if the 6,000-plus people who live in this riding who definitely support green and clean air will get out and vote. We’ll see, but either way, it’s hopeful to just see people vote."

Arthur Watson, who is running for the People's Alliance, doesn't think the strong advance poll numbers send any kind of message.

He thinks most people are busy and just wanted to get voting over with. Some of the early ballots may also be attributed to so-called snow birds, heading south for the winter, he added.

There are currently 26 Liberals, 21 Progressive Conservatives and a single Green MLA in the legislature.