Election day is finally here.
After nearly two months of campaigning, the people of Cochrane along with their Canadian neighbours will cast their respective votes on Oct. 21 in order to decide who will be Canada's Prime Minister for the foreseeable future.
There were many people across the country who went out early for the advance polls ahead of today in order to cast their vote.
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Stéphane Perrault has released the estimated number of electors who voted on the four advance polling days in the federal election underway. Advance polls were open from Friday, October 11, to Monday, October 14, and for the first time, for 12 hours each day from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Preliminary figures show that about 4,700,000 electors voted at the advance polls across Canada. This is a 29 per cent increase from the 3,657,415 electors who voted in advance in the 2015 general election.
"Banff-Airdrie had 25,437 people vote at the advance polls," said Leanne Nyirfa of Elections Canada. "There are a total of 107,281 eligible voters in Banff Airdrie."
"More and more, Canadians are taking advantage of early voting opportunities to cast their ballots," says Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault. "Having extended voting hours at advance polls gave Canadians more flexibility to use this option. I want to thank returning officers for their careful planning and the thousands of election workers who made that possible."
The candidates for the Banff-Airdrie riding are the incumbent Blake Richards for the Conservative Party of Canada, Anne Wilson for the New Democratic Party (NDP), Nadine Wellwood for the People's Party of Canada, Gwyneth Midgley for the Liberal Party of Canada and Austin Mullins for the Green Party of Canada.
"Today is super important," said Cochrane citizen Kristie Lane who cast her vote today along with other Cochranites at various polling stations around town. "Vote for the future of Alberta."
In order to cast your ballot, you must provide your government issued I.D. along with your voter card. Polling stations will be open until 7:30 p.m.
