SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Now that the dust has settled, it's clear Yellowknife voters clinched the win for NDP incumbent Dennis Bevington in the 2011 federal election.

The newly elected Western Arctic MP won 26 of the city's 28 polling stations, losing just two to Conservative candidate Sandy Lee - one at Range Lake North Elementary School and one at the Multiplex.

Bevington won 51 per cent of the vote in Yellowknife, and 45.8 per cent overall for 7,140 out of 15,655 votes cast in the Western Arctic.

The third-term MP said he could sense the strong NDP support during the campaign while going door-to-door to talk with voters.

"I think as well, what added to that (support) was the sense across the country that the NDP was moving up very strongly," he said.

Bevington faired a lot worse outside the capital, winning just 18 of 45 polling stations.

Lee won 14 and Liberal candidate Joe Handley won 13. The candidates for the Animal Alliance and the Green Party failed to win any.

Bevington credits the Conservatives' promises of major infrastructure in the North for their strong showing outside Yellowknife.

Lee claimed 32 per cent of the vote territorially and Handley had 18 per cent.

In Yellowknife, Lee won 30 per cent and Handley won 15 per cent.

Elizabeth Wyman, who has been deputy returning officer for the Western Arctic since 2007, said overall the election went by without any glitches.

"It went really well," she said. "I was pleased to see the voter turnout increase compared to past years."

In 2008, 48 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. This year it rose to 55 per cent, but was well below the national average of 61 per cent.

"It's significant. I think that is good news," Bevington said of the increased voter turnout, adding, "It can be better. I'd like to see even higher numbers in the future, but certainly I felt like this election attracted more people's interest up here."

He said he was happy to see more young people get out and vote, and hopes the turnout is even higher when the next election is likely called in 2015.

"We've had five elections in the last 10 years and some people may have been fatigued with the thought of another."

Wyman said the increased voter turnout was the reason it took the NWT longer to report poll results compared to Nunavut and the Yukon.

Altogether, 73 polling stations were open in the NWT on Election Day, May 2 and eight were open during advanced polling over Easter weekend.

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