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Despite a chilly start to the Easter long weekend, many Saskatchewanians bundled up to take part in the federal election’s advanced polls.
A line formed at the Campbell Collegiate poll in Regina well before voting even started.
Marie-France Kenny, the regional media adviser for Elections Canada, said this is typical for the mornings.
She expects a good voter turnout this weekend.
“We have a long lineup for all three polls here (in Regina) and I hear it’s the same in Saskatoon and Winnipeg,” she said. “There are big lineups.”
Marie-France Kenny, regional media adviser for Elections Canada, wishes everyone a “happy voting weekend.” (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
During peak times, Kenny said people might have to wait around for an hour before they can cast their ballot.
She said wait times can vary.
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Kenny said advanced polling is gaining popularity.
“We’ve made it a longer period. It used to be two days, now it’s four days. It’s changed over time and that’s because there was such an uptake for it,” she said.
“People want to do that and they don’t want to go and wait for extremely long lineups during election day.”
A line quickly formed at the Campbell Collegiate poll in Regina on April 18, 2025. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
According to Kenny, there are no volunteers at the polling stations. Everyone is a paid Elections Canada worker.
“All our positions are filled and we’re actually turning people away, which is a rare thing for an election, because we do hire 250,000 employees or so throughout the country,” she said.
The job is no easy feat — staff can work up to 15 hours a day.
“They are long shifts,” she said. “We need to take the ballot boxes and secure them, you need to do all kinds of things.”
Workers include information officers who greet people and ensure they’re at the right voting station and have the right information to prove their identity.
Kenny said a full list of acceptable forms of ID by Elections Canada can be found on its website.
There are also people at the voting station to help people register to vote.
As the line began to move, people “wooed” and cheered. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
While this election was a fairly quick turnaround, Kenny said Elections Canada was ready.
“Elections Canada is almost always ready or in ready mode,” she said with a laugh.
“We pushed for employment at the beginning and to make sure we were fully staffed by advanced polls, voting on campus and voting day.”
Following election day, ballots are counted in a locked room.
According to Kenny, the rooms have at least two poll workers and a supervisor present.
“Each ballot will be open, shown to the people present, logged in and put in a pile,” she said.
A video on Elections Canada explains this process in great detail.
Kenny said the election is a democratic process and her job is to make sure everyone who’s eligible can take part.
“For me, it’s just getting the information out on how to vote, where to vote, what to bring and making sure voting is accessible to every Canadian who’s eligible to vote,” she said.
Advance polls for the federal election opened on April 18 and run until Monday, April 21.
Polling stations are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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