April 18 is last day to vote early in P.E.I. election

Today is the last chance for Islanders to join the thousands who have already cast their vote before Tuesday’s provincial election day.

The third and final advanced poll for the April 23 election runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In the first advanced poll Saturday, close to 13,800 cast a vote for the person they hope to serve as MLA in their district. They also had the opportunity to vote MMP or for the current first-past-the-post system in a referendum on the electoral system.

Just over 9,500 people voted Monday in the second advanced poll.

Chief electoral officer Tim Garrity says the turnouts were two per cent and one per cent higher respectively over the first and second advanced polls during the 2015 provincial election.

He is hopeful the trend continues with the final advanced poll today.

“We do everything we can to try to encourage it,’’ he says. “I know a lot of people wait to vote on election day.’’

A total of 82,338 people voted in the 2015 provincial election or 82.1 per cent of the eligible voters on Elections P.E.I.’s list.

Garrity says he gets calls from other jurisdictions wondering just how the province draws so many to the polling stations election after election.

“It’s incredible,’’ he says.