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There were some big numbers at the advance polls ahead of Canada's federal election. Sarah Mills takes a look at what th...
Election day may not be for a few more days, but thousands of people in Saskatchewan have already taken to the polls to cast their ballots.
According to numbers from Elections Canada, 206,754 people in Saskatchewan cast a ballot in the four days of advanced polls between April 18 — April 21. The total is about 12 per cent higher than the 187,960 valid votes cast in the advanced polls in the 2021 election in the province.
Saskatchewan’s ballots represent nearly 3 per cent of advanced voting ballots cast across the country, 7,280,975. Elections Canada said that’s a 25 per cent increase from the valid votes in the 2021 election.
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On the first morning of advanced polling, Marie-France Kenny, with Elections Canada, expected a good voter turnout.
“We have a long lineup for all three polls here (in Regina) and I hear it’s the same in Saskatoon and Winnipeg,” she said. “There are big lineups.”
Wait times through the four days varied widely, some reporting waits of an hour and a half while others only waited for ten minutes before being able to cast a ballot.
Kenny said advanced polling has been gaining popularity.
“We’ve made it a longer period. It used to be two days, now it’s four days. It’s changed over time and that’s because there was such an uptake for it,” she said.
“People want to do that and they don’t want to go and wait for extremely long lineups during election day.”
Election Day is April 28 — voters can find their electoral district and polling stations on Elections Canada.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn
