Canadians say #IVoted; Elections Canada says take the voting selfies outside

Canadians are heading to the polls across the country Monday and while some are eager to share that they voted on social media, Elections Canada is asking people to wait until they are outside polling stations before snapping selfies or photos.

“Want to take a voting selfie? Great! Take it outside the polling place,” Elections Canada tweeted Monday as the longest election campaign in modern Canadian history came to a close.

Many were using the hashtag #IVoted to show off the fact they completed their civic duty.

Elections Canada says on its website that while cellphones are permitted at polling stations voters may not use their phones to: “be disruptive, take photos, make an audio or video recording, jeopardize the secrecy of the vote or the privacy of voters.”

The agency is also warning against taking photos of their marked ballots to display online.

“If people were allowed to show how they voted, it could lead to coercion (being forced to vote a certain way) or vote buying,” says Elections Canada on its website.

“If you’re enthusiastic about voting and want to share the experience with your friends, take a photo of yourself outside the polling place.”

READ MORE: What time do polls open and close across Canada?

This election will be historic not just for who is elected prime minister — Harper’s seeking a fourth term, Mulcair is looking to form the first NDP federal government, and Trudeau is looking to follow in his father’s footsteps — but in how election results are broadcast across the country.

Until 2012, Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act made it illegal to “transmit the result or purported result of the vote in an electoral district to the public in another electoral district before the close of all of the polling stations in that other electoral district.”

The Conservative government passed legislation to repeal the law meaning results in Newfoundland can be broadcast in real time in B.C., including through the use of social media.

Live real-time results of the 2015 federal election

Global News has live election coverage throughout the day as results from the 2015 federal election campaign roll in.

Our special election broadcast with Global National’s Dawna Friesen and The West Block’s Tom Clark will begin at 7 p.m. ET in Atlantic Canada, 8:30 p.m. ET in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and 9:00 p.m. ET on the full Global Television Network, including in Ontario and Quebec. The Global News Decision Canada special can also be seen in its entirely on the BC-1 all-news channel. Check local listings for more details.