Photo: Nicholas Johansen

A long line outside of Kelowna's Parkinson Rec Centre Friday morning.

While Canada's general election is still 10 days away, thousands of people are out across the Central Okanagan Friday to cast their ballot.

Advance voting in Canada's 45th election began Friday morning, with polls opening up across the country.

A number of advance voting locations opened up at 9 a.m. across the Central Okanagan, and many have seen long lines of people eager to get their votes in.

The line at Kelowna's Parkinson Rec Centre stretched back to the pickleball courts as of 11:30 a.m., while the line near the Coast Capri Hotel was estimated by a volunteer to take more than an hour.

Linda Seifred said it took about an hour and 15 minutes to cast her vote at Kelowna's MNP Place first thing Friday morning, but “luckily everyone was in good spirits, chatting and sharing our love of Canada.”

Voting at Rutland Middle School is also taking more than an hour Friday.

John Haller was upset about what he described as a lack of organization at the Okanagan Hungarian-Canadian Cultural Society advance voting location in West Kelowna Friday morning. He said the parking is “atrocious” and it took him an hour to get into the building itself.

Advance voting will continue until 9 p.m. Friday, followed by further advance voting days on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

On election day, April 28, voting will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

While multiple polling stations are located across the region, voters must use the polling location assigned to them. To find the voting location for your specific postal code, head to the Elections Canada site here.

Photo: Nicholas Johansen

Voters line up near the Coast Capri Hotel Friday mornning.