Voter turnout jumps in 2015 election

Preliminary results suggest at least 68.5 percent of eligible Canadians cast a vote in yesterday’s federal election — up from 61.1 percent in 2011.

About 25.6 million were registered to vote.

During the advance polls held over Thanksgiving weekend, 3.6 million cast ballots, 35 percent more than during the 2011 election.

And long lines yesterday at many polling stations were the first indication that the trend carried through.

The lowest turnout ever in a federal election was in 2008 when just 58.8 percent of eligible Canadians cast ballots, and the highest voter turnout was in 1958, when 79.4 percent voted.

As for the popular vote, while the Liberals will have about 54 percent of the seats in the House of Commons, they didn’t win the support of a majority of Canadians  The Liberals took 39.5 percent of the overall vote, compared to 31.9 percent for Conservatives, and just under 19.7 percent for the NDP.

Pending confirmation of final results, the Liberals now have a solid majority with 184 seats, the Conservatives will be the Official Opposition with 99, and the NDP has shrunk by more than half to just 44 seats.

When Parliament was dissolved in August, the Conservatives had 160 seats, the NDP had 96 and the Liberals 36.

Since the last election, thirty new ridings have been added to better represent Canada’s changing population.

You can view the election results nationally and by riding here.