Results from the municipal election in Chatham-Kent are now official.
The voting totals were released Wednesday afternoon by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
No changes were listed from the results posted Monday night, which means the municipality will have a new mayor and nine new councillors.
Chatham-Kent did have a voter increase in this election with 34,722 ballots cast, which is 45.44 per cent of eligible voters. To compare, there were 32,783 ballots cast in the 2014 municipal election and 32,398 ballots cast in 2010.
"I'm happy to see that there is an increase in the number of voters," said Judy Smith, chief returning officer. "There was about a 3.3 per cent increase from the previous election so we're quite happy with that."
Smith also said the increase in voter turnout was seen in advanced voting and on election day itself. In terms of why the there was an increase in voters, Smith said it could have anything to do from nice weather, the candidates themselves, or the convenience of voting online.
As for trends, Smith said there are more women who have been elected this term and younger candidates.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. Monday night, with results made public by 9 p.m. Smith said because Chatham-Kent didn't have internet voting on election day, they were able to avoid problems that arose in other municipalities.
"It was one file that we had to download from our supplier in order to get the results up and that was the internet voting one," she said. "We were able to obtain that with no issues at all, so it was a smooth process for Chatham-Kent."
To find a list with the exact votes each candidate in the municipal election received, click here.
