Voter turnout drops to record low
An estimated 59.1 per cent of Canadians cast votes in Tuesday's general election — a figure that appears to be a record low in the history of Confederation.
| Voter turnout across Canada | |
|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 48.1% |
| New Brunswick | 62.8% |
| Nova Scotia | 60.7% |
| P.E.I. | 69.5% |
| Quebec | 61.1% |
| Ontario | 59.1% |
| Manitoba | 56.8% |
| Saskatchewan | 59.4% |
| Alberta | 52.9% |
| British Columbia | 61.0% |
| Northwest Territories | 48.6% |
| Yukon | 63.7% |
| Nunavut | 49.4% |
A total of 13,832,972 votes were cast nationally of the 23,401,064 registered electors, Elections Canada figures showed as of 9 a.m. ET Wednesday.
The highest voter turnout appeared to be in P.E.I., where 69.5 per cent of registered voters cast ballots.
The lowest turnout appeared to be in Newfoundland and Labrador, where just 48.1 of registered voters took part.
All the figures were based on reports from 69,601 of 69,630 polls across the country. The total number of registered electors did not, however, include anyone who only registered on election day itself.
After the ballots were counted, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives won a second consecutive minority government.
The turnout figure of 59.1 per cent was slightly below the previous lowest turnout figure of 60.9 per cent. That happened when Paul Martin's Liberals won a minority government in 2004.
The highest voter turnout in Canadian electoral history occurred in 1958, when 79.4 per cent of registered voters took part in the election that saw John Diefenbaker return to power with a majority government.