Canadians rush to vote early in elections, and postal voting is underestimated

OTTAWA, Sept. 15 (Reuters) – Canadians voted in record polls ahead of record numbers ahead of next election, some want to beat crowds amid coronavirus pandemic, according to data released this week, though has predicted an expected avalanche of postal votes to materialize.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called the speedy September 20 election to try to get a majority, is now fighting to keep his job with his Liberal party in a tight race against his main rival, the Conservatives.

About 5.8 million Canadians voted early in this election, 18.5% more than the 2019 vote, according to preliminary data from Elections Canada. Separately, a record 1.2 million ballot votes have also been cast, although it is well below the Canadian Elections range of 2.3 to 4.3 million.

Canada has more than 27 million eligible voters.

The increase in advanced polls, coupled with a smaller demand for postal voting, shows that Canada’s highly vaccinated population is comfortable voting in person, alleviating some concerns that voters would not present due to pandemic fears, according to said experts.

“Most people are double-vaccinated. So I think maybe they’re less afraid to go to the polls in person,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University.

“If we were still in the third wave, where few people had been vaccinated, I think things could be different.”

More than 77% of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated, but a fourth wave driven by Delta has increasing cases across the country.

While email voting is proving less popular than expected, it could still slow the count in a handful of circus tensions, which could delay the overall result for days. Most ballots will only be counted after checking against face-to-face voting.

“It will be an unusual election because we will break the record for e-mail votes at the federal level. This, in addition to the pandemic, makes it difficult to understand possible voter turnout,” said Nik Nanos, head of Nanos Research.

According to the latest Nanos poll, Conservatives and Liberals are locked in a deadlock of 31.2% to 30.5% of the vote within a week of election day. Left-leaning New Democrats have 21.4%.

Trudeau was attacked by rivals on Wednesday, after data showed inflation was at an 18-year high amid rising pressure on prices, from petrol to housing and furniture. Read more

(This story has been changed to headline again)

Report by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Edited by Aurora Ellis

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