Looking to vote on Election Day? Here's everything you need
For those looking to exercise their democratic rights, here's a quick primer of who's running, how to vote, and how to find out where to vote.
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OTTAWA — So, it’s Election Day.
What now?
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Looking to vote on Election Day? Here's everything you need Back to video
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For those looking to exercise their democratic rights, here’s a quick primer of who’s running, how to vote, and how to find out where to vote.
Canada, party of two: Who’s running?
With the federal NDP relegating itself to political irrelevance, this election is a two-horse race between the Liberals — led by newly minted Liberal Leader Mark Carney — and the Conservatives, which has been headed by Pierre Poilievre for the last three years.
This election is unique because Carney and Poilievre are running for seats in adjacent ridings — Poilievre in the suburban riding of Carleton, a seat he’s held since 2004 — and Carney, one constituency to the east in Nepean. Carney decided to run in that riding after the Liberal Party controversially ousted long-time MP Chandra Ayra.
As for the other parties, the federal New Democrats are led by Jagmeet Singh, who’s at risk of losing his seat in Burnaby South to the Liberal challenger.
The Green Party is led by two co-leaders, Jonathan Pedneault, running in Outremont, and party stalwart Elizabeth May, who is at risk of losing her seat in Saanich—Gulf Islands — this time to a Tory.
Voters in Quebec can choose the Bloc Quebecois, led by Yves-François Blanchet, while those who favour the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) can vote for their local candidate, headed by Maxime Bernier, who’s running in the Quebec City-area riding of Beauce.
Cards, licences, vouchers: How do I vote?
Anybody hoping to vote will need to be a Canadian citizen, over the age of 18 and be able to prove residency.
If you have a voter’s card, bring it to the polling station — but you don’t need one to cast a ballot.
Voters can choose one of three ways to prove their identity:
- Driver’s licence or other government-issued ID with your photo, name and address
- For those without a licence, you can bring two other means of ID — including a birth certificate, firearms licence, Veterans’ Affairs health card, social insurance card, utility bill, residential lease, voter registration card, etc. A full list of acceptable ID can be found on the Elections Canada website. At least one of these must include your current address.
- If you have no ID, you can provide a written declaration if your name and address, along with somebody from the same electoral polling station to vouch for you.
Any questions can be answered by poll workers on election day.
In Ontario, polling stations are open from 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. on Monday.
Where do I vote?
If you have a voter’s card — everybody on the voter’s list should have received theirs by April 11 — it will have your assigned polling station listed.
If you don’t have one or can’t find it, Elections Canada has a handy tool on their website showing you where to vote.
Also, keep in mind that electoral boundaries were redrawn since the last federal election — for more information, visit the Elections Canada website.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
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