Polls close and ballot counting begins as P.E.I. election campaign draws to a close
Posted Apr 3, 2023 06:05:19 PM.
Last Updated Apr 3, 2023 06:16:10 PM.
CHARLOTTETOWN — The polls have closed in Prince Edward Island after an election race dominated by debate over health-care and housing.
The incumbent Progressive Conservatives, led by Premier Dennis King, are seeking a second term in office.
The party’s main challengers are the Green Party, led by Scottish-born dentist Peter Bevan-Baker, and the Liberals, led by Sharon Cameron, who was acclaimed as leader less than five months ago.
When the campaign began four weeks ago, the Conservatives held a slight majority with 15 of the legislature’s 27 seats — the Greens had eight seats and the Liberals held four.
Opinion polls at the beginning and end of the campaign suggested the Conservatives were well ahead of their rivals, including the New Democrats in a distant fourth place.
King called the election six months before the province’s fixed election date, and less than two weeks after the province landed a 10-year health-care funding deal with Ottawa worth $966 million.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023.
The Canadian Press
