As Albertans get ready to hit the polls to elect a new Member of Parliament for the Battle River–Crowfoot riding, Elections Canada is rolling out a new ballot.
As of July 28, there are 209 names on the ballot for the by-election, including Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.
As a result, Elections Canada will be using an adapted ballot, which does away with the normal circles voters fill in and introduces a blank space to write the chosen candidate.
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“For their vote to be counted, electors must write the name of their candidate of choice. As long as the elector's intention is clear, their vote will be counted, even if they misspell the candidate's name,” said Elections Canada in a news release.
Voters can also write the candidate’s party, however, if there is no candidate name, the vote does not count.
A list will be available at every voting table so electors can find the name of the candidate they are voting for.
According to Elections Canada, the adopted write-in ballot will feature the same security and integrity measures found on a typical ballot.
However, there are some changes that may reduce accessibility for some voters.
All accessibility tools will be available but some of them, including the braille list of candidates and adapted braille voting template will only be available on election day, which is Aug. 18.
Elections Canada said electors who need support can bring a friend, family member or caregiver to help them and election workers, who are sworn to maintain the secrecy of the vote, are also available for help.
Voters can still vote by special ballot at their local Elections Canada office and they can also apply to vote by mail. Those voters have until Aug. 12 at 6 pm.
Due to the large number of candidates, Elections Canada said final results for the riding, which is to the east of both Calgary and Edmonton, may take longer to report and publish.
