Millions of Canadians spent Thanksgiving weekend voting: 3.6 million people cast ballots over four days advance polls, Elections Canada said Tuesday.
That’s 71 per cent higher turnout than in 2011, when advance polls were only open for three days.
The higher-than-expected turnout led to long waits at some polling stations. Some had line-ups before opening on Monday.
Why are the numbers so high this year?
For one thing, this is the first time advanced polls have stayed open for four days.
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And Elections Canada set up a new pilot program with polling stations at 39 university campuses across the country to make voting easier for young people. Elections Canada estimated that only 38.8 per cent of voters aged 18-24 voted in the 2011 election – the lowest turnout of any age group
Elections Canada spokesperson Nathalie de Montigny told Global News the project was a great success: More than 70,000 people came out to those pop-up voting booths.
What does this mean for Election Day?
Don’t get your hopes up: History shows high advance turnout doesn’t predict high turnout on voting day, says University of Toronto politics professor Nelson Wiseman.
He attributes the higher numbers of advanced voters to the extra day for advanced polls and the convenience of voting on a long weekend.
Wiseman said he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of people voting in 2015 either rose or fell by two to three per cent.
Nonetheless, Elections Canada is prepared for anything on Oct. 19.
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De Montigny told Global News there will be a fast lane for registered electors with the right identification, which should help cut down on wait times.
And advanced voters had extra steps to take while voting, including signing their name – which won’t be necessary on Election Day.
There will also be far more polling stations open for election day Oct. 19: all 65,000 polling stations across the country will be open, compared to only 4,950 stations that were open over the long weekend.
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