Voting by mail? Some Canadians should return their ballot in person now

Thousands of Canadians have applied to vote by mail, but those voting from within their riding should return it in person to a local Elections Canada office as soon as possible.

Elections Canada is urging Canadians who decided to vote by mail from within their riding to drop their ballot off in person if they haven’t mailed it yet to ensure their vote is counted on election day.

The notice from the agency comes as the deadline to apply to vote by mail using a special ballot passed on Tuesday night.

Voting by special ballot is one of the methods Canadians can use to cast their vote in the election if they don’t want to do so in person at an Elections Canada office, at advance polls or on election day. It’s also used by Canadians who won’t be in their riding for advance polls or election day, or if they live abroad.

But with less than a week to go, the agency says those voting using this method from within their riding who have not yet mailed their completed ballot should drop it off in person instead.

Those who vote by mail are responsible for ensuring the ballot gets to the proper officials in time, which is 6 p.m. eastern on April 28 if the prepaid envelope that comes in the kit is addressed to Ottawa’s office or by the time polls close if addressed to the local office.

According to Elections Canada, this is also important because those who chose to vote by mail cannot change their mind and vote in person at their assigned polling station on election day.

As of Monday, a total of 863,938 special ballot voting kits were issued to Canadians who either were voting by mail from inside their riding or voted in person at an Elections Canada office. The agency does not separate the number of mail-in ballot kits compared with in-person special ballot kits.

However, of that number, a total of 755,317 were returned either by mail or in person, meaning 108,621 kits remain outstanding.