Ontario voters headed to the polls Monday to decide whether or not the scandal-plagued Liberals deserve a fourth mandate.
Polls opened at 9 a.m. Thursday and results will start to be released after they close at 9 p.m.
More than 9.2 million Ontarians were eligible to vote, but uninspiring choices at the ballot box, negative campaigns and unprecedented involvement from organized labour have political observers worried that the 41st general election will be marred by yet another disappointing voter turnout.
Premier Kathleen Wynne asked the Ontario Lieutenant Governor David Onley to dissolve the legislature on May 2 after NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she would no longer support the minority government.
At the time the election was called, the Liberals held 48 seats, the PQ 37 and the NDP 21.
With pre-election polls showing the Liberals in a virtual tie with the Progressive Conservatives - and the latest poll suggesting the major party leaders are in a three-way tie - there's a good chance the $90-million snap election will produce another minority government.
The province's economic recovery, job creation and the elimination of the $12.5-billion deficit dominated the 40-day campaign, which in the final stages was marred by nasty personal attacks and accusations of voter manipulation.
Wynne is hoping to capitalize on widespread concerns over Tory Leader Tim Hudak's pledge to slash 100,000 public sector jobs and cut government spending in order to balance the books in two years. She's been portraying the Liberals as a party that believes in government support, be that through a provincial pension plan or cash to entice businesses to invest in the province, even if that means carrying a deficit.
Hudak has put all his chips on his Million Jobs Plan, which is based on the assumption that shrinking government, cutting corporate taxes and reducing the size of the public sector will stimulate the economy and create a million jobs over the next eight years. Some economists have raised questions about the math behind his plan, suggesting the Tories have mistakenly inflated the job numbers.
The Tories also worked hard to focus their campaign on the scandals plaguing the Liberal government by renewing their calls for a judicial inquiry into the cancellation of two unpopular gas plants by former premier Dalton McGuinty before the last provincial election in 2011.
Nipping at the front-runners' heels are the New Democrats, the party that triggered the election when their leader Andrea Horwath refused to support the NDP-friendly Liberal budget last month. Horwath has been trying to distinguish her party as a real alternative, saying voters shouldn't have to choose between the 'corrupt' Liberals and the Tories' 'crazy' platform.
Ontarians have shown a growing propensity to stay home on election day over the past two decades, with voter turnout numbers steadily falling from 64% in 1990 to a historic low of 48% in 2011.
An estimated 566,845 electors cast their ballot at an advance poll between May 31 and June 6. This was a decrease from the 603,785 electors who voted ahead of the 40th Provincial General Election in 2011.
Post By http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/12/ontario-election-2014-results-a-live-riding-by-riding-breakdown-of-the-vote/
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