While many Canadians spent Thanksgiving at home with family and friends, it appears many also took the opportunity to get out of the house and go vote during advance voting over the long weekend.
According to Elections Canada, some 4,700,000 electors voted at the advance polls in this general election.
The agency said t his is a 29% increase from the 3,657,415 electors who voted in advance in the 2015 general election.
“More and more, Canadians are taking advantage of early voting opportunities to cast
their ballots,” said Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault. “Having extended voting
hours at advance polls gave Canadians more flexibility to use this option. I want to thank returning officers for their careful planning and the thousands of election workers who
made that possible.”
Elections Canada is also paying special attention to electors in Manitoba “who have been affected by challenging circumstances in recent days and may have been unable to take advantage of advance polls,” said Perrault.
As such, she said plans are are in place to add resources at the local level and
be prepared to adjust our services for Monday, October 21, as required.”
The top priority, she added, is to ensure that electors in Manitoba are able to cast their ballot.”
A breakdown of the estimated number of electors who voted at the advance polls, by
province or territory and electoral district, for all 338 electoral districts is being
calculated, and will soon be available on the Elections Canada website.
The figures at this point though, do not include electors who voted in local offices, on campus, in additional service points, or by special ballot.
This year’s advance voting period also marked the first time that polls were open for 12 hours on each of the advance voting days, from 9 am to 9 pm.
For those who didn’t cast a ballot, election day is Monday, October 21.
All Canadian citizens who are at least 18 years old are eligible to vote, but must ensure they are registered to do so.
To make sure you’re on the list – or to register or update your address information, electors can visit Elections Canada online, visit any Elections Canada office across Canada, or call 1-800-463-6868. The deadline to register by mail is October 15.
You can also register at your assigned polling station when you go to vote on election day, Monday, October 21
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To vote, you must show proof of your identity and address. However, there are many different pieces of identification that can be used to do this.
And if you don’t possess any of these? You can still vote if you declare your identity and address in writing and have someone who knows you and who is assigned to your polling station vouch for you. The voucher must be able to prove their identity and address. A person can vouch for only one person (except in long-term care institutions).
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