Police called to Elections Canada office in Vancouver

There is new controversy this morning over casting a ballot for the federal election.

It is now less than a week away and some voters in Vancouver are angry and frustrated after an Elections Canada office reportedly closed early.

Police were called to a disturbance at a building on West Hastings Street where special ballot voting was happening. Dozens of people showed up, including those who will be away from the electoral districts next Monday.

But many say the office closed early at 4:30 p.m. and they didn’t get the chance to vote.

Full coverage of the 2015 federal election

Elections Canada has responded to the incident, saying all special ballot voting finished at 6 p.m.

“We’re very very disappointed,” said one resident who showed up to vote. “We’re disappointed about the lack of communication, we’re disappointed about the lack of foresight.”

Elections Canada says 3.6 million people flocked to advance polls over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That’s a 71 per cent increase over pre-election day ballots cast in the last federal election in 2011. But officials note that advance polls this time around were open for four days, as opposed to three last time.