Election officials hoping for record voting turnout in Winnipeg

 Winnipeggers have already broken one voting record this election, and now officials are hoping to break another.

More than 13,000 advanced City of Winnipeg election ballots were cast at malls and universities this civic election, setting a record for the highest turnout in those advanced voting locations.

"We are expecting very large turnouts so we hope you can get out and vote,” Senior Election Official Marc Lemoine said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, community advance polling locations in all of Winnipeg's 15 wards opened, including at the Valour Community Centre where people were waiting outside for a chance to cast their ballot.

Lemoine is hoping to have as many as 50,000 people vote in advance – an option ending this week.

“In 2018, we had about 15,000 people come out during that community event, so about a thousand per location each of the three nights.”

This year, he expects it to be even higher.

In the previous 2018 election, more than 42 per cent of Winnipeggers cast their ballots. In 2014, just over half of the city turned up to vote.

"You ask, 'Who are the people who are not voting?' They tend to be the younger adults,” University of Manitoba Political Studies Adjunct Professor Christopher Adams said. “I would say if the university advanced voting is high that is a good signal if those are students who are voting."

Adams says people who have lived in their neighbourhoods for a while and those who are worried about crowds on election night are more likely to cast their ballots early.

"Once you do your advanced vote, you know it's locked in."

Adams says a competitive mayoral campaign, candidates advocating for advanced polling, and the City’s promotion of advanced voting could be driving more people to the advanced polls.