The federal election is just 10 days away and political parties are pulling out all the stops to secure support from Canadians as advanced polls opened on Friday.
From October 9 to October 12, advance polls are open from noon to 8:00 p.m. at polling stations across the country.
- Find your polling station and electoral district HERE
Those using the advanced polls are reminded to bring the proper identification:
- Driver’s licence
- Provincial or territorial ID card
- Any other government card with your photo, name, address
- Or two pieces of ID, like an Alberta Health and Social Insurance Card
- Click HERE for a detailed list of acceptable IDs
According to Elections Canada, in the last federal election, advance polls were higher than in the three previous elections and 2,111,542 electors cast their ballot early, which represents 14 percent of all electors who voted.
Workers at advanced polling stations in Calgary say they expect to be busy this weekend and on Election Day.
“It seems a lot busier,” said Susan McMahon from Elections Canada. “Our special ballots have been overwhelmed with people coming in to vote early. Yes, I expect it’s going to be a busy 10 days for us.”
An Elections Canada pilot project aimed at making it easier for students to vote was launched this year and dozens of "pop-up" polls were set up on university and college campuses.
Students were able to vote by special ballot between October 5 and 8 and the votes will be counted in the riding where their home address is located.
"For a lot of young people, the introduction of the Fair Elections Act has made it incredibly difficult for them, because there have been a lot of restrictions made around the kind of ID you can use," Bilan Arte, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, told CTV News Channel.
About 42,000 students across Canada took advantage of the pilot project.
For full coverage of Federal Election 2015, click HERE.
(With files from ctvnews.ca)
