Canadians decided to beat the election day lines and turned out in record numbers to advance polling stations over the Easter long weekend.
Elections Canada estimates that nearly 7.3 million Canadians turned out to vote over the four-day period between April 18 and April 21, a new record. This marks a more than 20% increase in turnout at advance polls compared to the 2021 election where 5.8 million voters cast their ballot at advance polling stations and in 2019 when 4.8 million electors voted.
On the first day of advance polling, the non-partisan elections agency said that more than two million people voted on April 18th, a single-day record at advance polls.
Some Canadians complained that advance voting would be happening over Easter weekend, an important holiday for Christians across Canada who would be attending church services and family gatherings.
Nonetheless, polling stations across the country were packed, with reports of voters waiting in lines for over an hour just to cast their ballot.
On the last day of advance polling, one polling station in Crossfield, Alta with high turnout from the local community saw voters unable to vote for an extended period of time as the polling station ran out of plain ballots.
The Crossfield & District Community Centre’s polling station posted a sign on the office’s front door telling voters about the shortage of plain ballots, telling them to return to the polling station at a later time.
Crossfield, a small rural community with a population of 4,045, is part of the larger riding of Yellowhead, which was easily won by the Conservative Party in 2021 with just over 60 per cent of the vote.
In a comment to True North, a spokesperson for Elections Canada said that they were notified of the ballot shortage earlier in the day, alerted the local candidates of the situation, and replenished the stock of plain ballots within an hour.
“At one poll (625) at the Crossfield & District Community Centre, high turnout resulted in a temporary shortage of ballots, resulting in a 45 minute wait as supplies were replenished. The additional ballots were requested earlier in the day and were already en route when the first batch ran out,” said an Elections Canada spokesperson.
“Most if not all electors waited until new ballots arrived so they could vote. We immediately informed the local candidates of the situation. We always aim to ensure there are sufficient ballots at all polling locations, and there are contingency measures we can employ if supplies run out and we cannot replenish them in a timely manner as we were able to do yesterday.”