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Voter turnout tops 50% in city ridings

Voter turnout for the provincial election June 12 inched past 50 per cent across Ontario, as well as in Sudbury and Nickel Belt.
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The Elections Ontario website's updated list for candidates now total eight, including two independents and some candidates from some lesser-known political parties. File photo.
Voter turnout for the provincial election June 12 inched past 50 per cent across Ontario, as well as in Sudbury and Nickel Belt.

A close race in Sudbury helped get out the vote, in a riding where less than 50 per cent of those eligible went to the polls in 2011.

According to still unofficial results, a total of 51.7 per cent of voters cast ballots in Sudbury, for a total of 33,725 out of 63,457 eligible voters. That compares to the 32,529 votes cast in 2011, less than half of the 65,130 people eligible to vote in Sudbury.

In Nickel Belt, despite the popularity of incumbent France Gélinas – who won by the largest margin in the province – more than half of voters turned out, although just barely, at 50.2 per cent. That compares to 49.3 per cent of voters who turned out in 2011.

The local numbers are reflected provincewide, where 52.1 per cent of the 9.2 million Ontarians eligible to vote turned up at the polls.

While an improvement compared to 2011, voter turnout has been declining in both ridings in recent elections. The voter turnout in Sudbury in 2003 was 56 per cent, before dipping to 51.1 per cent in 2007. In Nickel Belt, turnout was 61.8 per cent in 2003, and 53.6 per cent in 2007.

Unofficial results of the June 12 election:

Sudbury, 64,027 eligible voters at 238 polls:
Joe Cimino, NDP: 14,247
Andrew Olivier, Liberals: 13,267
Paula Peroni, PCs: 4,653
Casey J. Lalonde, Greens: 1,211
Steve Wilson, Libertarian: 242
J. David Popescu, independent: 105

Nickel Belt, 63,457 eligible voters at 196 polls:
France Gélinas, NDP, 19,941
James Tregonning, Liberals: 6,977
Marck Blay, PCs: 3,782
Heather K. Dahlstrom, Greens: 1,123

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Darren MacDonald

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