TORONTO -- The most disappointing turn of events for some forlorn voters this election was the lack of congratulatory stickers at the polling stations.

The stickers, which say 鈥淚t鈥檚 Our Vote鈥 but are colloquially referred to by voters as 鈥淚 voted鈥 stickers, were part of the Community Relations Officers鈥 pre-election outreach kit. More than 650,000 stickers were printed ahead of time and distributed to youth, Aboriginal electors, seniors, ethno-cultural communities and the homeless.

Some polling stations handed them out to voters on election day but not all voters were given the token, to their chagrin.

Elections Canada spokesperson Dugald Maudsley said the stickers were never necessarily meant for distribution on election day but rather an attempt to drum up awareness about the election process.

鈥淔rom what we鈥檙e seeing on social media, it looks like they were very popular and that their role changed from raising awareness to celebrating a vote,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat probably explains why they ran out 鈥 they weren鈥檛 really intended for election day.鈥

Voters lamented the situation on social media throughout the day Monday, expressing frustration and threatening to make a formal complaint to the 鈥渕anager of Canada.鈥

 

 

One mother said she was 鈥渃hoked鈥 about the situation as she promised her daughter a sticker in an effort to convince her to accompany her to the polling station and engage in the civic process.

 

 

Another voter went so far as to call the lack of stickers 鈥渁 scam鈥 and, true to the communication style of 2019, created a meme to express his anger at the situation.

 

 

But it turns out that some voters were luckier than others. Some electors humbly bragged about receiving the token, taking photos to show off the coveted sticker to their friends.

 

 

Some Canadians refused to give up, even offering to trade something far more valuable in exchange for the prize.

 

 

Despite their disappointment, Canadians were mostly鈥ell, Canadian about the situation, accepting the situation politely and with grace and reminding fellow voters to keep their eye on the real prize 鈥 the vote itself.