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Nova ScotiaHow did we vote in Nova Scotia?
(Detailed results)

by Maurice Y. Michaud (he/him)

Nova Scotia :: Recorded events and races
Jurisdiction Elections Referendums
Juri. Year Assem. General By-Elections
Elec Races Elec Races
Min Max Min Max N Accl. n Acc? N Accl. n Acc? Minis. Q Races
2 NS 1867 2024 24 65 42 1,821 25 1,796 0 118 176 56 120 0 24 0 0
The MMP simulator can be run on all the general elections in this jurisdiction.

“Acc?” stands for missing data (namely races entered as having been won by acclamation when in fact the results are unknown), while “Minis.” shows the number of ministerial by-elections.

Up until the middle of the 20th century, unseating a member was commonplace and the mechanism to challenge someone’s election seems to have been very lax when viewed through presentist lens, as many by-elections were held merely because the challenger — often the government or the defeated incumbent — did not like the result. What’s more, newly appointed ministers had to resign and run in a ministerial by-election. Therefore, by-elections were far more frequent than they are today.
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Summarized statistics

Showing ::  Summarized statistics ✓   By-Elections ✗   Referendums ✗
26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
General Election Your query
Legislature 65 Government Limiter None
Candidacies 191 Winner  PC  Candidacies 191 Winner  PC 
Majority +16 Maj/Min Majority +16 ↳ 43
Seats 55 → By acclamation 0 Seats 55 → By acclamation 0
For maj. 28 Eligible 783,499 For maj. 28 Eligible 783,499
PC (gov’t) 43 Votes 354,122 PC (gov’t) 43 Votes 354,122
Opposition 12 Rejected 2,249 Opposition 12 Rejected 2,249
G.Maj. +31 Turnout 45.48% MMP OK Yes Turnout 45.48%

Counting the candidates, the seats, and the votes

26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
Parties Rank Seats Votes
ID Can. 1 2 3 4 5 6– N % Acclam. R.M. Votes % /Can. Effic. Diff.%
S&V
55 43 12 —— —— —— —— 43 78.18% 0 34 187,045 52.82% 3,401 4,350 +25.36%
54 9 15 29 1 —— —— 9 16.36% 0 5 79,068 22.33% 1,464 8,785 -5.97%
55 2 28 25 —— —— —— 2 3.64% 0 1 80,849 22.83% 1,470 40,425 -19.19%
4 1 —— 1 1 1 —— 1 1.82% 0 1 4,220 1.19% 1,055 —— ——
23 —— —— —— 23 —— —— 0 0.00% —— —— 2,940 0.83% 128 —— ——
 !!!  [55] 52 3 —— —— —— —— 52 94.55% —— —— 427,128 54.52% 7,766 —— ——
 REJ  [55] —— —— —— —— —— —— Rejected ——→ 2,249 0.63% 41 —— ——
∑ 191 55 55 55 25 1 —— 55 100.00% 0 41 354,122 100.00% 1,854 6,439 ——
One seat as a percentage (entire jurisdiction) ——→ 1.82%
  Lost votes ——→ 3,593 1.01%
Lost votes are defined as being “Votes that did not contribute to a party winning at least one seat, plus the votes for a ban­ner (or non-party) like Inde­pend­ent that did not yield to winning a seat.” Un­per­form­ing votes are those that did not contribue to winning a seat, while those that did are deemed performing. Because the vote efficiency of each party can vary by region, the sum of the lost votes from each region only adds up if the party has won no seat (in which case “lost” and “unperforming” are equal), while the sum of the performing or unperforming votes from each region always adds up.

The performance of the votes

26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
Parties Performing votes Unperforming votes
ID Can. Votes /Can. Seats Votes /Can. % Failures Votes /Can. %
55 187,045 3,401 43 161,740 3,761 86.47% 12 25,305 2,109 13.53%
54 79,068 1,464 9 31,820 3,536 40.24% 45 47,248 1,050 59.76%
55 80,849 1,470 2 8,660 4,330 10.71% 53 72,189 1,362 89.29%
4 4,220 1,055 1 3,567 3,567 84.53% 3 653 218 15.47%
 OTH  23 2,940 128 0 0 0 0.00% 23 2,940 128 100.00%
∑ 191 354,122 1,854 55 205,787 3,742 58.11% 136 148,335 1,091 41.89%
Performing, unperforming and lost votes, by party and region

To better understand the significance of this analysis, please refer to this article. Indeed, we can see that this breakdown uncovers an additional 52,370 lost votes. It would therefore be interesting to see in the MMP simulator how the outcome of this election might have been different with a proportional voting system.

Definitions of regions
Hfx: Halifax Regional Municipality
CB: Cape Breton Island
Rst: Rest of Nova Scotia
∑ 55 seats
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 191 354,122 100.00% 55 205,787 148,335 3,593 1.01%
Hfx 81 152,111 42.95% 23 80,479 71,632 2,055 55,963
+52,370
15.80%
CB 27 52,460 14.81% 8 31,557 20,903 302
Rst 83 149,551 42.23% 24 93,751 55,800 53,606
43 seats
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 55 187,045 52.82% 43 161,740 25,305 0 0.00%
Hfx 23 64,432 42.36% 14 46,902 17,530 0 0
CB 8 30,235 57.63% 6 24,654 5,581 0
Rst 24 92,378 61.77% 23 90,184 2,194 0
9 seats
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 54 79,068 22.33% 9 31,820 47,248 0 0.00%
Hfx 22 50,510 33.21% 8 28,608 21,902 0 +20,006
25.30%
CB 8 8,552 16.30% 1 3,212 5,340 0
Rst 24 20,006 13.38% 0 0 20,006 20,006
2 seats
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 55 80,849 22.83% 2 8,660 72,189 0 0.00%
Hfx 23 35,114 23.08% 1 4,969 30,145 0 +32,364
40.03%
CB 8 13,371 25.49% 1 3,691 9,680 0
Rst 24 32,364 21.64% 0 0 32,364 32,364
1 seat
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 4 4,220 1.19% 1 3,567 653 653 15.47%
Hfx 1 456 0.30% 0 0 456 456 653
CB 1 104 0.20% 0 0 104 104
Rst 2 3,660 2.45% 1 3,567 93 93
 OTH  No seat
C Votes S Performing Unperforming Lost
Nova Scotia 23 2,940 0.83% 0 0 2,940 2,940 100.00%
Hfx 12 1,599 1.05% 0 0 1,599 1,599 2,940
CB 2 198 0.38% 0 0 198 198
Rst 9 1,143 0.76% 0 0 1,143 1,143

Regional distribution of candidates and seats

26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
Parties Regions
Hfx CB Rst
ID C ✓ C ✓ C ✓ C ✓
∑ 191 55 81 23 27 8 83 24
55 43 23 14 8 6 24 23
54 9 22 8 8 1 24 ——
55 2 23 1 8 1 24 ——
4 1 1 —— 1 —— 2 1
23 0 12 —— 2 —— 9 ——
Definitions of regions
Hfx: Halifax
Entirety of Halifax County
CB: Cape Breton
Entirety of Cape Breton Island
Rst: Rest of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia except Halifax County and Cape Breton Island

Candidates by gender identity

26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
Total Men (M) Women (F) Non binary (X)
ID Can. ✓ Leg. Can. ✓ Leg. Can. ✓ Leg. Can. ✓ Leg.
N % N % % N % N % % N % N % % N % N % %
∑ 191 100.00% 55 28.80% 100.00% 106 55.50% 36 33.96% 65.45% 83 43.46% 18 21.69% 32.73% 2 1.05% 1 50.00% 1.82%
55 28.80% 43 78.18% 78.18% 37 67.27% 31 83.78% 72.09% 18 32.73% 12 66.67% 27.91% —— —— —— —— ——
54 28.27% 9 16.67% 16.36% 21 38.89% 2 9.52% 22.22% 32 59.26% 6 18.75% 66.67% 1 1.85% 1 100.00% 11.11%
55 28.80% 2 3.64% 3.64% 32 58.18% 2 6.25% 100.00% 23 41.82% 0 0.00% —— —— —— —— —— ——
4 2.09% 1 25.00% 1.82% 3 75.00% 1 33.33% 100.00% 1 25.00% 0 0.00% —— —— —— —— —— ——
23 12.04% 0 0.00% 0.00% 13 56.52% 0 0.00% —— 9 39.13% 0 0.00% —— 1 4.35% 0 0.00% ——
How to interpret these percentages
 Can. %: Percentage of persons of that gender identity for this party.
↳ Ex.: 60 candidacies (30 M, 28 F, 2 X)
Can. % (M) = 100 * (30 / 60) = 50.00%
Can. % (F) = 100 * (28 / 60) = 46.67%
Can. % (X) = 100 * ( 2 / 60) =  3.33%
✓ %: Percentage of persons of that party and that gender identity who managed to get elected.
↳ Ex.: Number of persons elected = 19 (8 M, 10 F, 1 X)
✓ % (M) = 100 * ( 8 / 30) = 26.67%
✓ % (F) = 100 * (10 / 28) = 35.71%
✓ % (X) = 100 * ( 1 /  2) = 50.00%
Leg. %: Percentage of caucus members of that party by gender identity.
↳ Ex.: Number of persons elected = 19 (8 M, 10 F, 1 X)
Leg. % (M) = 100 * ( 8 / 19) = 42.11%
Leg. % (F) = 100 * (10 / 19) = 52.63%
Leg. % (X) = 100 * ( 1 / 19) =  5.26%

Age at their election

The age at election is missing for 18 of the 55 persons elected.
Can you help PoliCan find some missing birthdates?
26 November 2024 — Present
Rev: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 :: ID 2772 (F)
Total Men (M) Women (F)
ID # µ <=29 <=39 <=49 <=59 <=69 >=70 # µ <=29 <=39 <=49 <=59 <=69 >=70 # µ <=29 <=39 <=49 <=59 <=69 >=70
∑ 37 48.8 —— 7 13 12 5 —— 24 48.7 —— 4 9 8 3 —— 13 48.9 —— 3 4 4 2 ——
30 49.5 —— 6 9 10 5 —— 22 49.3 —— 4 7 8 3 —— 8 50.1 —— 2 2 2 2 ——
4 45.0 —— 1 2 1 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— 4 45.0 —— 1 2 1 —— ——
2 42.5 —— —— 2 —— —— —— 2 42.5 —— —— 2 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— ——
1 55.0 —— —— —— 1 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— 1 55.0 —— —— —— 1 —— ——
µ = Average (Age)

© 2005, 2025 :: PoliCan.ca (Maurice Y. Michaud)
Pub.: 20 Aug 2024 05:00
Rev.: 23 Mar 2025 08:36 (but data presented dynamically)

© 2019-2025 :: PoliCan.ca
Given that electoral results are by their very nature public information, such data presented in PoliCan are considered to be in the public domain. However, unless indicated otherwise, all other elements — the concept of consolidating these data into a single format, the detailed research on each election, legislature and candidate, the organization and searchability of the data, the programming allowing the entry and maintenance of the data, as well as the analyses and explanatory articles found in this website — are the intellectual property of Maurice Y. Michaud.