The first polls have now closed in Newfoundland, meaning results will soon start to trickle out, but voters in Abbotsford and the rest of B.C. have until 7 p.m. to cast their ballots.
Poll stations across the country were open for 12 hours, although the precise hours varied by region.
Polls opened in the Atlantic Time Zone at 8:30 a.m., local time, and closed at 8:30 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. In most of the rest of the country, the polls will close at 6:30 Pacific Time, with British Columbians – who started voting at 7 a.m. – having an extra half hour to cast a ballot.
Combined, Quebec and Ontario boast 199 of the 338 seats in Parliament. Results there may indicate which party will receive the most seats. However, with opinion polls suggesting a close race, results in B.C. could determine who claims the most seats, or if the leading party has enough seats to govern with a majority in the House of Commons.
Residents of Mission will be voting in the newly created Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon Riding. The district was previously part of the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission electoral district.
In addition to Mission, the new riding contains portions of Abbotsford north of Maclure and Bateman Roads, along with the Eastern Fraser Canyon north of the Fraser River. It also includes the Fraser Canyon north to Lillooet.
Despite the geographically large territory, the majority of the riding’s voters live in Mission and Matsqui.
Information on where you can vote, and which riding you live in can be found at elections.ca.
Six candidates are running in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon: Dennis Adamson of the NDP, Arthur Green of the Green Party, Jati Sidhu of the Liberals, Brad Vis of the Conservatives, Elaine Wismer of the Marxist-Leninist Party and independent Wyatt Scott.
Most registered voters will have received cards in the mail directing them to their designated polling location. The cards aren’t required however, and voters can register at any polling place, either with a driver’s licence or other government-issued card with a name, photo and address, or with two pieces of identification, one of which must show an address.
More than 9,000 voters in the Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding already cast ballots in advance polling. Across Canada, advance voting numbers were up more than 70 per cent.
Watch missioncityrecord.com and the Mission Record’s Facebook page tonight for coverage from the local campaigns and results as they become available.