By Canadian Press

Election officials expect most postal votes to be counted by Wednesday

Sep 20, 2021 | 7:02 PM

OTTAWA — The final results of the federal election may not be known until Wednesday, election officials have warned, because of almost one million mail-in ballots that will not be opened until Tuesday.

A clutch of close-run ridings, where mail-in ballots could prove crucial to the result, may have to wait days for a winner to be declared. 

Elections Canada expects “the vast majority” of mail-in ballots to be counted by Wednesday, though in some remote ridings it could take up to four days. 

A record number of people have voted by mail in this election, some because of fears of voting in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Local elections agents will begin opening postal ballots on Tuesday morning. 

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Before they are counted, ballots will be verified by local voting officials. They check to ensure voters have not sent in multiple ballots or have already voted in person in a polling station, as well as verify the signature. 

In Victoria, B.C., more than 12,600 people have voted by mail, the most in Canada, followed by Saanich-Gulf Islands, where over 10,700 people have opted for postal votes. 

A number of knife-edge battles, including in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, could hinge on mail-in ballots. 

Election officials are bracing themselves for delays in close-run ridings, where mail-in ballots could decide the outcome. 

These include Quebec — an electoral district in Quebec City — where Jean-Yves Duclos, a cabinet minister in Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s government, fought off a challenge from the Bloc Québécois by 325 votes in the 2019 election. More than 1,400 voters have sent in ballots by mail. 

One of the closest electoral battles is in the Yukon, which returns a single MP. At the last election, the Liberals fought off the Tories by only 153 votes. More than 1,800 voters have sent in mail ballots. 

Postal voters could also decide the outcome in Hochelaga, Que., where the Liberals won by only 328 votes last time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2021.

Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press