More people voted than in 2007

It turns out voter turnout wasn’t as terrible as first predicted.

As the votes rolled in late Tuesday night, initial numbers suggested just over half of Manitoba voters actually hit the polls.

Better tallies this morning put the number at 57.47 per cent, slightly better than in 2007 when 56.75 per cent of Manitobans cast a ballot. That could be thanks to a significant number of voters who hit advance polls and tight races in several ridings that made voters feel their choice really mattered.

Talk the vote: NDP on health care

Tuesday in our Talk the Vote live chat with political reporter Mia Rabson, NDP incumbent and labour minister Jennifer Howard joins a discussion on the NDP health care platform.

Is health care going to make or break your vote? Have you ever used one of the Access Centres created by the NDP government? Do you think health care is better or worse than it was a decade ago?

Help clarify the NDP policies -- and your position on health care -- in a direct conversation with Ms. Howard. Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m.

Student ‘voters’ share opinions about parties, provincial issues

Sure, ignore these kids because they're kids and they don't have a vote on Oct. 4.

But do so at your peril -- they'll be voters soon, they have long memories and they're not hearing much about anything that matters to them.

Nor do they find anyone seeking office is listening to them.

Students at hundreds of schools throughout Manitoba are taking part in Student Vote, the non-profit organization that provides classroom materials about the electoral process and then conducts realistic student voting.

Voter turnout under the microscope

OTTAWA -- Fixed-election dates aren't just making it easier for voters to know when they're expected to go to the polls.

They are allowing political science researchers a better chance to figure out what makes voters tick.

Or in many cases, not tick at all.

This fall, one of the largest election-study teams in Canadian history will be probing beneath the surface of the elections in Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

VIDEO: Bartley Kives explains why you should vote

Free Press reporter Bartley Kives explains, in simple terms, why you need to vote in the provincial election on October 4.

CHAT REPLAY: Talk the Vote on crime and politics

Manitoba has a reputation for having among the highest crime rates in the country. Winnipeg is sometimes not-so-affectionately-known as the murder capital of Canada. Is it affecting your vote?

New Canadians new to our politics

After taking the oath of citizenship Thursday, some new Canadians said they're glad to have the right to vote in their first election Oct. 4, even if they're not all sure for whom.

"I don't know who I'm going to vote for," said Jeremy Castro, who came to Canada from the Philippines seven years ago and lives in Winnipeg's West End. He's been too busy, getting settled and working full-time in a warehouse to support his wife and toddler.

"But I am going to vote," he declared.

Aditi Kapoor, who came to Canada from India five years ago and lives in Elmwood, said she's voting for the candidate with "vision" in his slogan and who's tough on crime. "I really support more cops on the street fighting crime," said the woman, who lives with her husband in Elmwood. She also supports a cap on post-secondary tuition. Kapoor is working for a courier service and saving money to go to university. "I don't want to take loans."

First-time voters weighing their options

They say they'll vote Oct. 4, but if recent trends hold true, three of them won't.

Five young Winnipeggers, whom the Winnipeg Free Press met almost a year ago at Windsor Park Collegiate when they were in Grade 12, now spend a little part of each day following the provincial election campaign.

"Little" is the key word as it might only involve watching an ad on TV or noticing a candidate's sign in their neighbourhood.

Whatever, each of the five former high school students -- yes, they all graduated with flying colours -- is fully aware of what's going on, who the leaders are and who the candidates are in their riding.

Long Plain, long forgotten

LONG PLAIN FIRST NATION -- With more than 1,000 potential voters, this southern Manitoba First Nation could conceivably hold the key to victory in Portage la Prairie constituency -- for the candidate who courts it.

But with a little over two weeks to voting day, no politician has yet come calling, not the NDP candidate, who came within 409 votes of wresting the seat from the Conservatives in 2007, not the Tory hopeful, who is treating Portage like a swing riding, nor the Liberal.

There are no election campaign signs to be found here. And the community's Rez Radio, a 30-watt FM station with a constituency-wide reach, has yet to air a single campaign ad.

Folks here aren't impressed with the lack of attention from the candidates.

CHAT REPLAY: Talk the Vote on health care promises

If you vote for almost anyone in this election it appears there will be more doctors and nurses on their way to a hospital near you. But will that sway you at the polls? Check out a replay of political reporter Mia Rabson's noon-hour online chat on election health care promises.

U of M students pumped about provincial vote

Summer's nearly over, and the kids are back in class -- but will they stuff the ballot box?

According to many of the students the Free Press surveyed at the University of Manitoba on Wednesday: you can count on them. While a few students admitted they weren't planning to vote in the Oct. 4 provincial election -- or "(hadn't) really thought about it" -- the overall chorus was in the affirmative.

But will those keen to vote make their mark on what has been a steady downward trend?

It's one of the most puzzling electoral conundrums: for all their big ideas and big energy, Canada's youth haven't been too keen to cast their ballots. In most elections, only about one-third of Canadians aged 18 to 25 vote. The trend has been with us for awhile: starting in 1984, the youth voter turnout began to drop sharply, and steadily.

Talk the Vote: election week in review

Join Free Press political reporters Mia Rabson and Bartley Kives at 10 a.m. Friday as they gather their thoughts about the election news of the day and solicit some of yours. Today's topic: a review of the election campaign, one week in.

Talk the Vote

Join Free Press political reporters Mia Rabson and Bartley Kives daily at 3 p.m. as they gather their thoughts about the election news of the day and solicit some of yours. Today's topic: negative campaigning.