OTTAWA - Voters flocked to last weekend's advance polls in higher numbers than Elections Canada expected, with Friday and Monday the busiest advance polling days ever.
The elections agency said its preliminary figures show just over two million people cast ballots on Friday, Saturday and Monday, which was a 34.5 per cent increase from the 1.5 million who voted in advance in 2008.
The agency said 676,000 people voted on Friday and another 832,000 cast ballots on Monday.
The highest turnout in any riding came in Nepean-Carleton in Ottawa, where 16,988 people voted. Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, won the seat in 2004 and is seeking a fourth term.
The Elections Act requires that advance polls be held on the tenth, ninth and seventh days before election day. This year's increased participation may be due to the fact that all three days were holidays for many people.
The Harper government has twice introduced a bill that would expand the number of advance polls, adding the two Sundays before election day. Under the bill, all polling stations across the country -- not just the limited number normally involved in advance voting -- would be open on the Sunday immediately before an election.
The bill died on the order paper for a second time when the election was called.
But Steven Fletcher, minister of state responsible for democratic reform, said the Conservatives intend to reintroduce it if they are re-elected.
"Lives of Canadians in the 21st century are quite different than perhaps they were in the past," he said in an interview. "People have to get their kids to school, they have to get to work, you know, there's traffic. Often people find that the day is done before they even get a chance to vote."
Hence, he said it's important to provide more options for people to vote in advance, particularly on weekends, when people are less busy.
"I think it makes our democracy stronger when people have more opportunity to vote," Fletcher said.
