It’s not too late for Canadians looking to cast their ballot who haven’t yet registered to vote — Elections Canada allows voters to register on election day at their polling station.
“You can do it right then and there before you vote, so people don’t need to worry if they haven’t got their registration in early,” Elections Canada spokesperson Matthew McKenna told CBC News.
“It’ll just be one extra little step before you go to vote. But it’s pretty seamless.”
Here’s a breakdown of how to register on voting day.
Voters can find their polling station by entering their postal code on the Elections Canada website.
You can also call Elections Canada at 1-800-463-6868.
At the polling station, all you need to do is prove your identity and that you live in the riding.
“For a lot of people, that’ll be one piece of government-issued ID with their address and a photo of them — so thinking a driver’s license [as an example],” McKenna said.
Other ID cards, like a health card, library card, student card or employee ID are accepted. But if the card doesn’t include your address or if it’s out of date, then you’ll need to separately provide proof of address.
You can use a combination of various documents to prove who you are and where you live.
Something like a lease agreement or utility bill can be used to prove your address.
Voting in the Canadian federal election, explained
“Really the key is you need something that’s got your current address on it and then any other thing to sort of prove your name or who you are,” McKenna said.
“It could be anything from a bank card and your lease or a hydro bill that has your address on it and a firearms license.”
You can still register and vote even if you don’t have all the required documentation, but you would need someone to vouch for you.
“If you know somebody else in your riding, you can get them to do an attestation for you. Many people call it vouching,” McKenna said.
Any registered voter in your riding — a family member, neighbour, friend or co-worker — can vouch for you at their assigned polling station.
“That person would basically attest to the fact that you live in that riding and, as long as they can prove their identity and address, that would suffice for you to be able to vote,” McKenna said.
A registered voter can only vouch for one other person.
Polling stations will be open for 12 hours on election day, but the specific time depends on what time zone you live in.
While that is ample time to cast a ballot, McKenna noted it can create difficulties for certain shift workers.
Employers by law must give their workers a three-hour window to vote. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to give you three hours off.
“Say that the polls in your riding close at nine and your shift is typically over at eight — well your boss could say, ‘Hey, OK, you’re done at six, go and vote,” McKenna said.
“It really just depends. But the key is that you’ve got that three-hour window to do it.”
Voters traditionally mark their ballot with an X beside their preferred candidate. But McKenna said as long as it’s clear who you’re voting for, any mark will do.
“Whether it’s an X or a check or a happy face, the counters will see that and they’ll say, ‘Ok, it’s very clear who this person was intending to vote for,’ and it’ll all be good,” he said.
Elections Canada provides pencils at the polling station, but voters can bring their own writing utensil if they prefer.
“You could go in with your favourite pen, or a Sharpie, or a crayon that you might have in your pocket … you can mark using the writing utensil of your choice as long as your intention is clear,” McKenna said.
If you make a mistake on your ballot, you can exchange it for another one.
