For the Roberts family of 91原创 City, voting is a responsibility they take seriously, and something they can all do together now that their children are old enough.

Father David, mother Crystal, son Johl and daughter Kaitlynn all went to the 91原创 City polling station to vote Saturday afternoon.

鈥淲e talk about it at home,鈥� David said.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 bitch or complain if you don鈥檛 vote. We (also) drag them out to the provincial elections.鈥�

As he spoke, his kids nodded agreement.

鈥淚t really doesn鈥檛 take that much time out of your day,鈥� Kaitlynn said.

鈥淭hen you get to have a say.鈥�

The parking lot was full to capacity by mid-afternoon, with more people arriving every few minutes.

Inside, there were lineup to vote, and the Chief election officer was reporting turnout had very nearly equalled the total results from the 2014 election, when 4,187 voted.

By about 4:30 p.m. the total number of visitors, both from the advance polls and Saturday was well past 3,000 and heading for 4,000, a fact that suggested there is increased interest in this election.

At the Township, by 5 p.m. the numbers, including advance ballots, had reached 21,520 and the Chief Election Officer said the final total could be several thousand higher than last election when 22,654 voted.

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The advance turnout for both the City and the Township was up from the last election.

There were 4,566 ballots cast in advance of today鈥檚 vote, Township Chief Election officer Bob Wilson said, which was more than the 4,000 he had been projecting, based on the good weather and increased number of advance voting opportunities this year.

Advance turnout was also up substantially in the City, thanks to a surge on the final day, City Election Officer Kelly Kenney said.

It brought the total to 1,368, well above the 789 recorded in the 2014 advance poll, Kenney said.

dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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