Over 800 special ballots cast during the recent federal election were mistakenly kept at the office of a returning officer in B.C. - including one from Airdrie-Cochrane.
Elections Canada announced that all registered political parties have been informed that 822 special ballots cast by electors in 74 electoral districts across the country were left with the returning officer in the riding of Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam.
The ballots should have been returned to its headquarters by April 28 at 6 p.m. to allow them to be counted.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault has asked for a complete review of the controls in place to ensure that a similar situation does not happen again, Elections Canada says.
"My commitment to candidates, political parties and Canadians is that when issues related to the delivery of an election arise, we take all necessary steps to resolve them," Perrault said in a news release.
On top of the uncounted Airdrie-Cochrane ballot, numerous Calgary ridings also saw singular ballots.
Ridings from predominantly B.C., Alberta, and Ontario were listed.
Over 500 of the ballots mistakenly left in Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam were for the electoral district of Port Moody—Coquitlam.
Elections Canada says an initial analysis shows that the outcomes in those 74 districts were not affected by the mislaid ballots.
A special ballot refers to any ballot cast that was submitted in a different way than at polling stations such as mail-in ballots.
More information and the full list can be found at www.elections.ca .
