We knew there wouldn't be the number of ballots that we saw in 2016 but the results of the 2018 by-election in Moose Jaw have a few people talking about voter turnout. Even before the results started to come in, people who gathered in council chambers Wednesday night were making predictions.

When the dust settled voter turnout wasn't that great. With an uneventful campaign, very little chatter in the community and no referendum to polarize voters, many simply didn't show up.

Preliminary figures show only 3162 ballots were marked in the vote for city council or roughly 12% of the eligible voters based on 2016 figures. It was even worse for the Holy Trinity election with just 661 ballots being marked. 2016 saw an impressive 41% voter turnout but of course, the cast iron LIP referendum sent thousands of people to the polls in order to choose how to pay for the expensive project.

The returning officer for the election will validate the results Thursday morning and is expected to make the official announcements later in the day.