WHITEHORSE — Polls have closed in Yukon’s territorial election, where voters could elect their first premier born in the territory and were asked for their say on electoral reform.
Unofficial figures released by Elections Yukon shortly after polls closed show turnout at just over 53 per cent, down from 65.5 per cent in 2021 and 76.3 per cent in 2016.
Both the territorial New Democrats and the Yukon Party have leaders who were born in Whitehorse and are vying to take over from the Liberals after an election campaign where housing, health care and the economy emerged as key issues.
The Yukon Liberals went into the race as a minority government holding eight out of 19 seats in the legislature, governing through an agreement with the three New Democrat members.
Max Harvey, Yukon’s chief electoral officer, said in a statement that turnout was generally low, and as of about 4 p.m. about 40 per cent of those eligible had voted.
He said he expected a bit of a surge during the afternoon before the polls closed at 8 p.m.
The election represents the first substantial challenge for Liberal Leader Mike Pemberton, who was elected party leader in June and is promising more government-supported housing and an expanded Whitehorse Walk-In Clinic.
Pemberton does not hold a seat in the legislature.
Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon has framed his party as the one to bring about change, while promising to support the private sector and provide more land for housing.
NDP Leader Kate White was the only one campaigning with a costed platform, which includes promises to fund post-secondary education in health care if graduates stay, and institute a payroll tax for those who work in the territory but pay taxes elsewhere.
All three parties are promising to expand the territory’s major hospital in Whitehorse.
It is the first territorial election with 21 ridings, with 15 of them having new boundaries. But the Liberals were only able to find 18 candidates to go up against full slates from the NDP and Yukon Party.
None of the Yukon Liberals’ cabinet ministers sought re-election this year, leaving former Speaker Jeremy Harper as the only incumbent Liberal on the ballot.
Yukoners were also asked to vote in a non-binding plebiscite on whether to change the current first-past-the-post electoral system to ranked ballots. It is the first territorial plebiscite in the Yukon in more than a century.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2025.
The Canadian Press
