The number of people who headed to the polls in Timmins-James Bay is down this year compared to the last federal election.
While NDP Charlie Angus is heading back to Parliament Hill, the right-wing vote made gains in the riding, according to the preliminary results from Elections Canada.
This morning, 175 of 176 polls are reporting. So far, the total number of votes cast is 33,279 out of 63,041 registered electors. That puts the unofficial voter turnout in Timmins-James Bay for the 44th general election at 52.79 per cent.
In the last election in 2019 — 37,109 of the 63,903 eligible voters cast a ballot.
The unofficial results today have Angus winning the riding with 11,689 votes, which is 35.1 per cent of the votes cast.
Conservative Morgan Ellerton is second with 9,141 votes or 27.5 per cent of the votes. Liberal Steve Black has 8,021 votes (24.1), and Peoples Party of Canada (PPC) Stephen MacLeod has 13.3 per cent of the votes with 4,428. There was no Green Party candidate locally.
The preliminary results show the Liberal support dropped slightly in 2021 compared to 2019, while support for the PPC picked up.
In 2019, the local Liberal and Conservative candidates were close at the finish line, with just 464 votes separating them. The Conservatives took second in that campaign as well. This year, there are more than 1,100 votes separating the parties, although the final standings are the same.
The PPC candidate in 2019, which was the first-ever general election for the party, had 1,248 votes, meaning the party has more than tripled its local support this election.
If the conservative votes were not split, the early results show that the right-wing vote would have had enough support to overcome veteran politician Angus.
Angus was first elected in 2004 and has held the seat ever since. Sept. 20 marked his seventh-straight victory.
Nationally, voter turnout right now is about 58.44 per cent, which is a drop from 2019 when there was a 67 per cent turnout.
The national results available right now have 98.98 per cent of the polls reporting. So far, the results translate into 15.9 million people out of an eligible 27.3 million cast a ballot.
The Liberal Party has won another minority government, with Justin Trudeau heading back for his third term as Prime Minister.
Nationally, there was 32.2 per cent support for the Liberals who have picked up 158 seats so far.
With 35.2 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives have 119 seats, the Bloc Quebecois have 10.1 per cent of the vote and 34 seats, and the NDP have 7.4 per cent of the vote with 25 seats. The Green Party has two seats with 0.6 per cent of the vote.
