(OTTAWA) Nearly 100,000 mail-in ballots, most of which came in late, went uncounted in the last federal election, Elections Canada says in a new report.
Posted at 1:07 p.m.
The organization responsible for organizing the federal elections mentions that 99,988 postal ballots were ignored. Some of them came from Canadians living abroad, citizens who were in the country but not at their primary residence, and members of the Armed Forces.
The number of postal votes jumped 82% in the 2021 election, which took place during the pandemic, compared to that of 2019.
Elections Canada said it received 1.1 million mail-in ballots, a record, but many arrived late. Other ballots were also rejected because they were not filled out correctly and because some people had tried to vote twice.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, recently recommended that the period for sending ballots by mail be extended in the future to make it easier for citizens.