Nova Scotians casting ballots in municipal election

It's municipal election day in Nova Scotia.

From Yarmouth to Sydney, Nova Scotians will be casting their ballots to elect the men and women who will be making the decisions that will help steer their cities, towns and school boards for the next four years.

In HRM a new mayor will be elected. Peter Kelly did not re-offer, opening the door for former Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Mike Savage to run for mayor. Polls have indicated Savage, the son of former Nova Scotia Premier Dr. John Savage, is the front runner for the job as a mayor. Former police investigator Tom Martin and Halifax entrepreneur Fred Connors are two of the candidates running against Savage.

During the lunch hour it was a steady stream of voters entering the polling station at St. Thomas-LeMarchant School in Halifax. One of the voters, Elizabeth Latimer,turned 19 on election day.The first time voter is aDalhousie student studying sustainability and environmental science.

"I think it's important to be able to vote, so I think everyone should take the opportunity and if anyone wants change, then this is the only way to do it," said Latimer.

In Cape Breton, long time provincial politician Cecil Clarke is gunning for the job of mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality. John Morgan did not re-offer and that opened the door for Clarke, who was defeated in the last federal election by Mark Eyking. Four others are in the CBRM mayoral race including Rankin MacSween, the head of New Dawn enterprises.

A total of 766 men and women are on the ballot in municipal races across the province. 155 people put their names forward for school boards, 74 of them are current members.

E-voting in HRM wrapped up Thursday with 22 per cent of eligible voters casting their vote online. In 2008, 36 per cent of voters cast their ballot.

More municipal election stories and features can be found on our site at http://www.cbc.ca/ns/features/municipalelections/

Polls close at 7 p.m. Saturday. Watch the live broadcast, monitor results and participate in our online conversation beginning at 7:00 pm.