Alberta saw a 59-per-cent increase in advance ballots cast for next week’s federal election compared to 2015, Elections Canada said Friday.
An estimated 578,219 Albertans — nearly one in five eligible voters — cast ballots in advance polls, which were open between Oct. 11 and Oct. 14, a spokesperson for the agency said.
In the Oct. 19, 2015 federal election, 363,613 Albertans cast advance ballots. In the May 2, 2011 election, 160,199 Albertans voted early.
As of Oct. 11, there were 2,981,599 eligible voters in Alberta, Elections Canada said.
The increase in advanced voting ballots cast has been seen across the country. An estimated 4.7 million electors voted in the advance polls in Canada — significantly higher than 3,657,415 votes cast nationally in advance polls in 2015.
An Elections Canada spokesperson said there were longer hours for the advanced vote this year.
There were also more advance polling locations on offer across the country. In 2015, there were 4,946 polling stations, compared with 6,135 that were open from Oct. 11 to Oct.14.