Algoma-Manitoulin voting delay not Elections Ontario's fault

Less than an hour after polls had been scheduled to close in Thursday's provincial election, Elections Ontario officials announced a number of ridings where voting times had to be extended past the mandated 9 p.m. end of balloting in the Ontario general election.One of them is located at the Pic Mobert School in the Wawa area. The building was plagued with a sewage problem.According to officials at incumbent NDP candidate Mike Mantha's campaign office in Elliot Lake, the Wawa-area poll, number four in the riding, has created a delay in the vote-counting process for the entirety of the vast Algoma-Manitoulin riding.

It was unclear (as of 9 p.m.) as to when results of voting could be expected but earlier reports said the polling station will be open for voting until 11 p.m. Vote counts from other stations can't be released until all stations have closed.

Perceived front runners in the five-way riding race are incumbent Mantha, Liberal Tim Vine, and PC Cheryl Fort.Also in the running in A-M are New Blue standard-bearer Ron Koski, Green Party candidate Maria Legault and a rep for the Ontario Party.