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SAINT JOHN - Saint John municipal election candidates had two minutes to prove to each voter they talked to Thursday night why they are the right choice on election day.

Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal

Mayor candidates, top to bottom, Ivan Court, Michael Richardson, Michelle Hooton, John Ferguson and Norm McFarlane speak with voters at a candidate mixer at Market Square Thursday night.

It was a political version of speed dating, with each person having 120 seconds to talk to a candidate before a bell rang and it was time to move on to the next candidate.

The real clock that was ticking, however, was how much time was left on the campaign trail.

Of the about 100 people attended the event at Market Square, most seemed to have an affiliation with one or more of the candidates. Many attendees proudly displayed buttons that advertised whose campaign they supported, or hovered around specific candidates for the majority of the evening. Only a handful of voters took the time to spend their two minutes with the each of the candidates of their ward.

The event was put on by Fusion Saint John and the Saint John Board of Trade.

Despite the bell that rang every two minutes to move voters along, many were engaged for long periods of time with candidates. All five mayoralty candidates had long conversations with the citizens who approached them with questions.

The one-on-one conversations allowed the candidates to explain themselves in greater depth.

Many candidates showed up at the event, although some wards had a better turnout than others. Ward 3 had the greatest turnout - nine of 10 candidates - but the turnout was no better than half for other three wards and the at-large candidates.

"I think (the event) is a good opportunity for the electorate to get out, to meet candidates they may not know in their wards, and some of the mayoralty candidates that they may not have had a chance to meet directly," said Dr. Mike Barry, chairman of the Saint John Board of Trade.

Amanda Masters, the Fusion Saint John events co-chairwoman, helped organize the event. She said the concept of speed campaigning grew from the speed networking events that Fusion often holds, with a little bit of inspiration from similar events surrounding the primaries in the U.S.

"We were really excited to bring that new idea to Saint John," she said. "By the candidate turnout alone, it's been very successful. ... We've had seats that been full the entire evening, and people are certainly making their rounds to make sure that they're informed before they vote."

Some of the citizens who were dropped by were surprised at the overall turnout.

"I haven't seen this many people out for quite a while," said Cathy O'Donnell, president of the Saint John Association for Community Living. She lives in Ward 2.

Helena Rubio, also of Ward 2, said that "now I have a better knowledge of my ward ... [and candidates] at large also."

She said she spent more than two bell rings at each mayoral candidate's station, which she said was important to making her decision come voting day.

"I'm with the Latin community, so that helped me a lot to see who would be good to attract more people and to retain new immigrants to the city."