About 1,000 Tri-City voters cast ballots on the first day of advance polling.
But city clerks are cautioning against making any assumptions about this Saturday's voter turnout based on early voting numbers.
Both Coquitlam and Port Moody saw an increase in voter turnout at advance polls last week compared to three years ago but the jump may simply reflect the fact it's easier to vote before a general election day than it use to be.
Prior to 2008, people had to have a specific reason for voting in advance, such as being out of town on voting day. Now, they don't.
"I wouldn't want to speculate on whether this indicates a trend," PoMo city clerk Colleen Rohde said in an email.
In Coquitlam, 583 people voted in the first advance poll, up from 430 in 2008; in Port Coquitlam 217 cast votes on the first day of advance polling, compared to 384 three years previous; and in Port Moody, 189 people cast votes early, compared to 128 in 2008.
Susan Rauh, corporate officer for the city of PoCo, also declined to speculate why voter turnout dropped in the first advance poll compared to three years previous.
"I haven't found the advance polls always reflect the outcome," Rauh said.
In fact, in 2008, PoCo had the highest voter turnout in the Tri-Cities at 28.8%, yet first-day advance polling numbers showed only a slight increase (382 in 2005 and 384 in 2008).
Meanwhile in Anmore, 204 voters or 14.9% of the electorate, turned out to cast their ballots on advance polling day. The village typically has a high voter turnout, about 50% or more, according to Karen-Ann Cobb, manager of corporate services. Cobb said in the most recent election and byelection, the voter turnout was about 54% but in 2005, it was 71.6% and in 2002 it was 87%.
Coquitlam still has two more early polling days for voters: today (Wednesday) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at PInetree community centre (1260 Pinetree Way) and Friday, Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Poirier community centre (630 Poirier St.).
Advance polling has concluded for the other cities.
