While Canadian figures show advance polls attracted 4.7 million voters over the Thanksgiving weekend, an increase of 29 percent from the 2015 federal election, figures for the Banff-Airdrie riding showed a much larger spike in advance voters than in the last election.    

According to Leanne Nyirfa with Elections Canada, the number of voters heading to the advance polls for all of Alberta was quite high.  "In the Province of Alberta the total number of people eligible to vote is 2,981,591 people and we know that across Alberta 578,219 people voted at the advance polls.  So, in Alberta, the voter turnout for the advance polls was just over 19 percent."

Nyirfa then gives the breakdown specifically for the Banff-Airdrie riding.  "25,437 people voted and that was out of an eligible 107,281 people.  The percentage of people who came out to vote at the advance polls in the electoral district of Banff-Airdrie was about 23.7 percent."

Nyirfa says in 2015, 15,324 people cast ballots in advance polls for Banff-Airdrie meaning an additional 10,113 people turned out at the\is year's advance polls.  

In 2015, 66,817 votes were registered in Banff-Airdrie.  

For those of you who didn't cast ballots in advance polls, there's always election day, Monday, October 21st.  Nyirfa says polling stations across Canada will be open from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm that day.  

If you do plan to vote on election day, Nyirfa says there is an important piece of information that Elections Canada wants you to know.  She says in some provincial elections people can go to any polling station to vote but it's different for federal elections.  "You need to go to the location that is on your voter information card.  That's the polling location you are assigned to."

Nyirfa says if you don't have a voter information card you can still register but you'll have to do it at the polls. You should contact Elections Canada to find out where you should go on Monday.

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