Byelections by the numbers
And inside the KC controversy
ABOVE THE FOLD
BYELECTION WATCH — Voter turnout is in the toilet this summer.
Advanced polls for the back-to-back byelections in Scarborough-Guildwood and Kanata-Carleton are now closed — and people don’t seem keen on filling those seats to replace MITZIE HUNTER and MERRILEE FULLERTON, respectively.
Per Elections Ontario’s early numbers, less than 10 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots. In Kanata-Carleton, just 6,664 — or 7.3 per cent — showed up to the polls. Even fewer turned up in Guildwood: a paltry 2,565 folks, or 3.6 per cent.
That compares to the 9 per cent who voted early in Kanata-Carleton during the 2022 election, and the 8.8 per cent who showed up in Scarborough last year. That election had pretty poor turnout, too, at around 43 per cent.
Meanwhile, the mudslinging is in full swing. The NDP put out a pair of press releases attacking PC candidates, calling Kanata’s SEAN WEBSTER “the ultimate lobbyist insider” and attacking Scarborough heavyweight GARY C…