More Canadians cast ballots at advance polls

Photo: The Canadian Press

An Elections Canada ballot box is shown in a Canadian Press file photo.

Preliminary numbers are in from Elections Canada after four days of advance polls for the federal election, and turnout is considerably higher than in 2019.

Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault released preliminary figures, showing an estimated 5,780,000 electors voted early. That’s an 18.46% increase from the 4,879,312 two years ago.

Some polls may not have reported yet, so the numbers could change.

Advance polls were open across the country from Friday to Monday.

Demand for mail-in ballots has also risen this election. September 14,2021 was the deadline to request to vote by mail.

Here’s a breakdown of the ballots requested and the mail-in ballots returned to Elections Canada for the federal ridings in the Thompson-Okanagan.

• Kelowna-Lake Country 6,896 requested — 2,622 returned ballots
• Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola 5,408 requested — 2,329 returned ballots
• North Okanagan 6,473 requested — 3,296 returned ballots
• South Okanagan 6,540 requested — 3,937 returned ballots
• Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo 6,535 requested — 3,974 returned ballots

A breakdown of the estimated number of electors who voted at the advance polls for all 338 electoral districts is being calculated and will soon be available on elections.ca.