31,399 Ontario voters declined their ballots at polls

More than 30,000 voters in Ontario declined their ballots at the polls and chose to forfeit their right to vote in the provincial election on June 12.

Unofficial results released by Elections Ontario on Wednesday showed 31,399 voters chose to decline their ballots, the highest since 1975 according to The Canadian Press.

Elections Ontario said there were 22,687 rejected ballots and 12,059 unmarked ballots from last week’s election.

Spokesman Peter Berry said a declined ballot occurs when the voter is struck off the voters list at the polling station and is given the ballot but then hands back the ballot to the returning officer without doing anything to it.

An unmarked ballot is when a voter accepts the ballot and puts it into ballot box without marking it, while a rejected ballot is when a voter accepts it and spoils it by marking more than one box or marking outside the box.

Last week, the Liberals won a majority with 58 seats in the legislature, while the Progressive Conservatives lost seats settling for 28 seats. The NDP lost key Toronto ridings but held its number of seats at 21.

The official poll results from Elections Ontario won’t be available for another four to six months, Berry said.

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