Advance polls in a historic federal byelection for Alberta’s Battle River-Crowfoot open today, and for the the first time ever, Elections Canada says voters must fill out a blank ballot.
Prime Minister Mark Carney called the byelection in June after Conservative Damien Kurek, who handily won the seat in the April general election, stepped down so Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre could run.
Poilievre lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton.
There are 214 candidates registered in the byelection, making it the largest number of candidates on a federal ballot in Canadian history. Those running include Poilievre, Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, NDP candidate Katherine Swampy, Jonathan Bridges of the People’s Party of Canada, and Ashley MacDonald of the Green Party. Advance polls close on Monday.
For the first time ever, Elections Canada says voters must fill out a blank ballot.
Elections Canada stated that, due to the record-breaking number of candidates, voters will be provided with special write-in ballots instead of the standard list-style ballot.
Most of the candidates on the ballot are associated with a group of electoral reform advocates known as the Longest Ballot Committee.
Elections Canada says there have been some exceptions to its regular ballot. Adapted ballots with two columns have been used in elections with a higher-than-usual number of candidates.
In this byelection, it’s not just marking an x. Voters must hand write the name of their preferred candidate in a blank space.
“Their vote will be counted, even if they misspell the candidate’s name,” said agency spokesperson Matthew McKenna.
“They can also include the name of the political party. However, if they write only the name of a political party, their ballot cannot be counted. The candidate’s name has to be there.”
Poilievre: ‘I love the people of Battle River-Crowfoot’
At an unrelated news conference in Calgary on Thursday, Poilievre expressed frustration with the group and the candidates that are associated with it.
“They’re adding their names even though they’re not campaigning. They don’t expect to win. They just want to inundate the ballot to confuse the situation [and] make it harder for people to vote,” Poilievre said.
Poilievre suggested the government should change the number of signatures a candidate is required to have on a nomination form. Currently, candidates only need 100 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
“The simple solution is to say that if you want to be a candidate, you have to get several hundred signatures of your own. You can’t just use the same 100 or 200 signatures for all the candidates.”
He also recommended that every candidate should be required to have their own financial agent.
Speaking at a candidate forum last week, independent candidate Bonnie Critchley expressed frustration with the Longest Ballot Committee and noted that several candidates won’t be able to vote in the byelection because they don’t live in the riding.
“If you want to run for an area, you need to live here. This longest ballot crap, that’s got to stop,” she said.
Another candidate forum is set for Thursday evening at the Stettler Community Hall.
At the news conference in Calgary, Poilievre also talked about his experience campaigning in the rural Alberta riding.
“I’m meeting a lot of people who are very angry about the way that the federal government has abused and mistreated Alberta. What they’re saying is the era of ‘pay up and shut up’ has got to come to an end,” he said.
“Alberta deserves a better deal within Canada, and one of the ways we make that happen, one of the ways we unite our country, is to produce our resources.”
Elections Canada said electors can also vote early by mail or at the local Elections Canada office in Battle River-Crowfoot until Tuesday, Aug. 12. The official election day for the byelection is Aug. 18.
