Elections Canada hopes 91-name ballots in LaSalle—Émard

Article content Voters in the ridings of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Montreal and in Elmwood—Transcona in Winnipeg go to the polls on Monday to send a message that will be examined closely by Canada’s political parties. Polling stations are open from 9 a.m.

to 9 p.m. Elections Canada predicts the counting of ballots will be completed by midnight in Montreal even though the ballots have 91 names — making them the physically longest in the history of federal elections.

Many candidates are running to protest against Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system. Saying it has learned lessons from the June byelection in Toronto-St. Paul’s in June in which a similar protest lead to ballots comparable in length.

The final count was not completed until early the next day. Elections Canada has made provisions to accelerate the process. Matthew McKenna, a spokesperson for Elections Canada, said that counting of advance-poll ballots will begin four hours before polling offices close.

Additional staff has been hired to oversee the count. Polls suggest the Montreal byelection is a three-way race between the federal Liberals, who are fighting to hang onto the riding, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party. The LaSalle—Émard—Verdun byelection was called after Liberal MP and cabinet minister David Lametti, who held the riding since 2015, announced earlier this year he was leaving politics.

During the last general election in 2021, Lametti was re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the ballots cast, well ahead of his opponents. In Winnipeg’s Elmwood—Transcona, the Conservative Party of Canada is seeking to wrest the riding from the NDP.

During the last federal election, Daniel Blaikie of the NDP was swept into office with 49.7 per cent of vote compared with the second place Conservative candidate, who garnered 28.1 per cent of the ballots.

Since then, however, the NDP’s popularity nationally has plummeted. According to polls, it would lose seats if a general election were called this autumn, as well as its position of holding the balance of power if the Conservatives win a majority government..