Election 2025: Everything you need to know to register to vote and cast your ballot

Election time is little than a period distant and Canadians volition person a fig of options erstwhile they formed their ballots.

"We effort to conscionable Canadians wherever they're at," Elections Canada spokesperson Matthew McKenna told CBC News.

Here's everything you request to cognize astir however to registry to ballot and workout your antiauthoritarian right.

How to registry to vote

If you voted successful the past national predetermination and haven't moved since 2021, chances are you're already registered to formed your ballot this year.

"The bully quality is astir Canadians already are [registered]," McKenna said.

But if you're voting for the archetypal time, you volition request to registry with Elections Canada. Alternatively, if you person moved since the 2021 vote, you volition request to update your information. Registering oregon updating your accusation tin beryllium done successful assorted ways.

"The easiest mode is to spell to our website," McKenna said.

To registry online astatine the Elections Canada website, you volition request to spell done a abbreviated bid of questions and supply your name, code and postal code.

Another enactment is to telephone Elections Canada.

"If they're not truthful tech-savvy oregon they don't privation to bash it online, they tin telephone america — 1-800-463-6868 — and the folks volition assistance them locomotion done the registration," McKenna said.

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Voters tin besides spell to immoderate of the astir 500 Elections Canada offices astir the state to register.

"There's astatine slightest 1 acceptable up successful each riding," McKenna said.

Once registered, Elections Canada volition nonstop voters an accusation paper with everything you need to know.

If you hide to registry up of time, you tin ever bash truthful astatine your polling presumption connected predetermination day. You volition conscionable request to beryllium your individuality and your address.

Voting astatine a polling station

Elections Canada provides a fig of ways for voters to formed a ballot, but the astir evident 1 is going your section polling presumption connected predetermination day. There volition besides beryllium 4 beforehand polling days, betwixt April 18 and 21.

If you've registered up of time, you'll get an accusation paper by message that volition archer you wherever to ballot connected predetermination time oregon during the beforehand voting days.

"That elector accusation paper is going to archer them precisely wherever they request to go, the hours that their polls are open. It's going to archer them astir the accessibility of their polling sites," McKenna said.

Having the elector accusation paper whitethorn besides beryllium adjuvant arsenic immoderate ridings person changed for the 2025 predetermination — riding boundaries are updated each 10 years to bespeak colonisation changes.

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When you vote, you volition request to beryllium your individuality and your address.

"For a batch of people, that'll beryllium 1 portion of government-issued ID with their code and a photograph of them," McKenna said.

If you don't person a driver's license, you tin usage a operation of a fig of assorted documents to beryllium who you are and wherever you live.

Any authoritative paper with your sanction connected it tin beryllium utilized to beryllium your identity, including a room card, pupil paper oregon worker ID. Your elector accusation paper tin beryllium utilized arsenic impervious of address, but truthful tin a lease statement oregon inferior bill.

"It could beryllium thing from a slope paper and your lease oregon a hydro measure that has your code connected it and a firearms license," McKenna said.

Voters traditionally people their ballot with an X beside their preferred candidate. But McKenna said arsenic agelong arsenic it's wide who you're voting for, immoderate people volition do.

"Whether it's an X oregon a cheque oregon a blessed face, the counters volition spot that and they'll say, 'Ok, it's precise wide who this idiosyncratic was intending to ballot for,' and it'll each beryllium good," helium said.

If you marque a mistake connected your ballot, you tin speech it for different one.

Voting by mail

When you registry determination volition beryllium an enactment to petition a mail-in ballot, but determination are immoderate further steps involved.

You volition request to nonstop Elections Canada copies of your ID — this tin beryllium done online oregon by faxing oregon mailing copies. 

If you're intending to ballot by message from wrong your ain riding, you volition beryllium sent a peculiar ballot kit with instructions to your location address. If you're voting from extracurricular your riding, you volition request to supply an code wherever you volition beryllium capable to person your voting kit.

"It's precise straightforward. You participate a spot of information, you click the close buttons passim the way and you'll get sent a kit with everything that you request to ballot by mail," McKenna said.

For Canadians surviving abroad, they request to use to articulation the planetary registry of electors to person a ballot kit.

Regardless, if you program to ballot by mail, McKenna said it's champion to bash truthful arsenic soon arsenic possible.

"We can't number the ballots that travel successful late. So for those that are voting by mail, [it's] ever encouraged to use early, to marque a spot of a plan, to person a fewer options successful caput to get the ballot back," helium said.

The Tuesday earlier predetermination time — April 22 — is the past time to registry to ballot by mail. Ballots that are received aft predetermination time won't beryllium counted. Voters tin cheque online oregon telephone Elections Canada to cheque if their ballot kits person been sent oregon received.

Unlike regular ballots, mail-in ballots necessitate voters to constitute retired the sanction of their preferred candidate. A ballot with conscionable a enactment sanction won't beryllium counted.

Voting astatine a section Elections Canada office

Anyone tin ballot astatine a section Elections Canada bureau astatine immoderate clip earlier April 22.

"Folks tin ballot arsenic of contiguous [and] truly since the time the predetermination was called," McKenna said.

Voting astatine a section bureau is simply a adjuvant enactment for those who won't beryllium successful their riding connected predetermination time oregon beforehand polling days. 

"Many folks don't cognize that you tin locomotion successful immoderate day, inquire for a peculiar ballot and arsenic agelong arsenic you cognize the sanction of the campaigner that you privation to ballot for, you tin constitute it successful connected your peculiar ballot and ballot and beryllium done with it," McKenna said.

Voters tin formed their ballot astatine immoderate of the section offices, adjacent ones that aren't successful their location riding.

Between April 13 and 16, Elections Canada volition run its vote-on-campus programme astatine a fig of colleges and universities.

While the programme is chiefly aimed astatine allowing students to vote, McKenna said the field polling stations run likewise to a section office.

"The bully happening astir that programme is that it's unfastened to anyone. It's precise akin to if you spell to a section Elections Canada bureau to vote," helium said.

How votes are counted

Elections Canada counts each ballot by manus — but wherever and erstwhile tin beryllium connected however the ballots were cast.

Votes formed connected predetermination time are counted astatine the polling presumption aft the polls close. At slightest 2 witnesses are required to verify each ballot. Usually, these witnesses are representatives of section candidates, but immoderate non-Elections Canada worker tin beryllium a witness.

"It's rather a manual process. The ballots are unfolded one-by-one. They're shown to everybody who's contiguous for the count," McKenna said.

Once the ballot is confirmed successful beforehand of the witnesses, it is tallied. After each ballots are counted the results are phoned successful to Elections Canada headquarters.

Ballots formed during advance polling days are counted astatine a section Elections Canada office. They are counted connected predetermination nighttime but they tin commencement being counted an hr earlier polls adjacent if a ample fig of voters formed their ballot up of time.

Special ballots formed astatine the section bureau up of predetermination time are counted astatine those offices connected predetermination nighttime aft polls close, arsenic are mail-in ballots that were sent successful by voters from wrong their riding.

Mail-in ballots from those voting from extracurricular their riding, from overseas oregon utilizing the field programme are counted astatine Elections Canada office successful Ottawa. They tin beryllium counted up to 14 days up of predetermination night, depending connected volume.

In the week pursuing predetermination day, Elections Canada volition past verify the results.

"When you're talking about hundreds of oregon thousands of polling locations and tons of results coming in, errors tin happen. Whether it's thing gets misheard connected the telephone oregon idiosyncratic accidentally types successful the incorrect fig connected the keyboard," McKenna said.

"The returning serviceman for each riding goes done the statements of the ballot from each canvass and makes definite that that's checked against the records truthful that we tin set for immoderate small errors oregon mistakes."