St. Albertans are heading to the polls this weekend for the opportunity to cast a vote before the election.
Advance voting kicked off on Friday morning with 267 locations across the province and will run until Monday at 9 p.m.
Polling stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. all weekend.
“There really are lots of different ways to vote, lots of options,” said Leanne Nyirfa, Elections Canada media adviser for western Canada.
“The most important thing is (to) go to the polling location you're assigned to. If you're not sure where that is, please just contact us.”
Nyirfa said voters should have received a voter information card in the mail, which will tell them the location they should be voting at.
“If you haven't received your voter information card, you do need to contact Elections Canada because that means you're either not registered to vote or we might have you registered at a different location,” Nyirfa said.
If voters didn’t receive the card, there are still many ways to vote and they can go on the Elections Canada website for more information. Voters will need to bring valid identification to cast their ballot.
“That can be either a government issued piece of ID that has your photo, your name and your address on it, that's all you would need if you don't have a driver's license. So you can provide two other pieces of ID. Both of these must have your name and one must have your address.”
Nyirfa said voting in the federal election is a bit of a different process than voting in a provincial or municipal one.
“You do need to go to the polling station that you're assigned to, so you can't just show up at any polling station.”
Polling station workers will be accepting around 50 different types of identification.
If voters don’t have identification, they can get someone who is also at their polling location to vouch for them.
If residents can’t make it to the advance polls over the weekend, they can head to any Elections Canada office until Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.
Voters also have an opportunity to vote by mail but need to request their ballot package by Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.
Anyone who wants to wait can find out their polling station and cast their vote on election day on Oct. 21.
Voters can contact Elections Canada online at www.elections.ca or call 1-800-463-6868 with any questions.
