Final push ahead of Monday's election in Barrie

With the clock ticking down to the Ontario municipal election night, Simcoe County and Muskoka voters have a big decision to make.

In Barrie, 18% of the 103,000 eligible voters participated in advance polling. That's up from 14% in the last municipal election. This time around, people could vote in person or online.

"Our voter assistance centres open at 10:00 am; they close at 8:00 pm. Anybody that is in line at 8:00 pm at one of our in-person centres will be able to cast their ballot," said Wendy Cooke, city clerk.

If you have your voter letter and PIN that came in the mail, you need to bring that to the polls tomorrow. If not, make sure you have a piece of identification with your name and address.

As for the candidates, the next 24 hours or so are perhaps the most crucial during the campaign.

Dr. David Tabachnick is a professor of political science at Nipissing University. He said there is still time for candidates to sway potential voters. "People often do make their decision in the last short while even while they are standing you know, filling out their ballots. So any sort of positive message you can put in someone's mind to convince them to vote for you or in some cases against someone else, that can be quit effective" said Tabachnick.

Just over 29% of eligible voters voted in Barrie last municipal election. The city clerk says she's expecting that number to be up this time because of online voting availability.