Numbers junkie needs a fix

The last provincial election in Manitoba was held on May 22, 2007. 420,540 ballots were cast. Later in that same calendar year, the poll-by-poll results of that election were published by the provincial electoral office.

The latest provincial election in Saskatchewan was held on November 7, 2007. 453,009 ballots were cast. The poll-by-poll results of that election are already available.

The latest provincial election in Quebec was held on March 26, 2007. 4,010,696 electors cast ballots. Poll-by-poll results, in Excel format no less, were made available on the internets on June 19, 85 days later.

The most recent federal election, the largest electoral event in the country, was held on January 23, 2006. 14,817,159 ballots were marked at 65,477 polling stations. Poll-by-poll results, also in Excel format, were published just 49 days later, on March 13.

The previous provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador was on October 21, 2003. There were 278,328 ballots cast. Poll-by-polls were transmitted to the Legislature on July 9, 2004, 262 days later, and published sometime after that, in hard-to-use .pdf format.

The latest provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador was on Octobe 9, 2007. 113 days later, there are still no poll-by-polls, not even for fewer ballots, not even after a longer elapse of time, than general elections in other Canadian jurisdictions.

Why does it take so long?