Overview

• The Longest Ballot Committee’s mass nomination drive pushed the candidate list to a record 214, turning a routine byelection into a protest over Canada’s electoral system.
• Voters will use blank write-in ballots for the first time in a federal vote, with accessibility measures like laminated candidate lists to offset confusion.
• After losing his Carleton seat to a Liberal in April, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre needs a decisive victory here to bolster his position ahead of a January leadership review.
• Independent candidates and local critics have branded Poilievre a parachute candidate and are aiming to chip away at his expected majority.
• Advance polls drew over 14,000 of nearly 86,000 registered voters, underscoring high engagement as rural Albertans head to the polls Monday.