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Longest Ballot Campaign declares victory in Battle River-Crowfoot byelection
Protest group's candidates in record-breaking election only garnered 314 votes, but organizers say their point was made
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Aug 20, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Despite their candidates only earning 314 votes in Monday’s federal byelection that saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regain a seat in the House of Commons, the election protest group responsible for embiggening the ballot is declaring victory.
“Of course, a movement that adds as many names as possible to a ballot isn’t really obsessing over vote results, we’re far more interested in making a political point,” the Longest Ballot Committee said in a statement issued Tuesday evening.
“What started with just a small group of friends and the blessing of the Rhinoceros party has now become a movement seven out of 10 Canadians are aware of, and perceived as such a political threat we’ve been mislabelled a ‘scam’ by the leader of the opposition.”
Indeed, Monday’s byelection in the east-central Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot saw a ballot with over 200 names on it, more than doubling the previous record set in the suburban Ottawa riding of Carleton, which Poilievre lost to a Liberal rookie.
Rather than subject voters to an enormous ballot, Elections Canada asked voters to write the name of their preferred candidate on the ballot instead of the standard checkbox.
The Longest Ballot Committee was the brainchild of Tomas and Kieran Szuchewycz in response to former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s failed promise to introduce election reform. Trudeau had proclaimed the 2015 federal election would be Canada’s last using the “first-past-the-post” election system, and vowed to introduce more equitable schemes such as proportional representation.
The committee wants the determining of election rules removed from the purview of elected politicians and instead entrusted to a neutral, non-partisan body — similar to how the arm’s-length Elections Canada operates elections and the Electoral Boundary Commission determines ridings.
“We have a very reasonable request, we’re asking for a similar body, call it Election Rules Canada, to oversee democratic reform,” the statement read.
Poilievre garnered 40,548 votes out of the 50,434 ballots cast Monday, with independent Bonnie Critchley — who loudly disavowed association with the protest — coming in second with 5,013 votes.
Longest Ballot candidates, at most, garnered around 11 votes, with the vast majority of ballot candidates getting one or zero votes.
“The longest ballot is a political prank that successfully gets attention and points out uncomfortable truths about power,” the committee’s statement continued.
“This autumn, MPs and an eager Mr. Poilievre are likely to prove our point once again: Politicians only change election rules to help themselves.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
torontosun.com
Protest group's candidates in record-breaking election only garnered 314 votes, but organizers say their point was made
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Aug 20, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Despite their candidates only earning 314 votes in Monday’s federal byelection that saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regain a seat in the House of Commons, the election protest group responsible for embiggening the ballot is declaring victory.
“Of course, a movement that adds as many names as possible to a ballot isn’t really obsessing over vote results, we’re far more interested in making a political point,” the Longest Ballot Committee said in a statement issued Tuesday evening.
“What started with just a small group of friends and the blessing of the Rhinoceros party has now become a movement seven out of 10 Canadians are aware of, and perceived as such a political threat we’ve been mislabelled a ‘scam’ by the leader of the opposition.”
Indeed, Monday’s byelection in the east-central Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot saw a ballot with over 200 names on it, more than doubling the previous record set in the suburban Ottawa riding of Carleton, which Poilievre lost to a Liberal rookie.
Rather than subject voters to an enormous ballot, Elections Canada asked voters to write the name of their preferred candidate on the ballot instead of the standard checkbox.
The Longest Ballot Committee was the brainchild of Tomas and Kieran Szuchewycz in response to former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s failed promise to introduce election reform. Trudeau had proclaimed the 2015 federal election would be Canada’s last using the “first-past-the-post” election system, and vowed to introduce more equitable schemes such as proportional representation.
The committee wants the determining of election rules removed from the purview of elected politicians and instead entrusted to a neutral, non-partisan body — similar to how the arm’s-length Elections Canada operates elections and the Electoral Boundary Commission determines ridings.
“We have a very reasonable request, we’re asking for a similar body, call it Election Rules Canada, to oversee democratic reform,” the statement read.
Poilievre garnered 40,548 votes out of the 50,434 ballots cast Monday, with independent Bonnie Critchley — who loudly disavowed association with the protest — coming in second with 5,013 votes.
Longest Ballot candidates, at most, garnered around 11 votes, with the vast majority of ballot candidates getting one or zero votes.
“The longest ballot is a political prank that successfully gets attention and points out uncomfortable truths about power,” the committee’s statement continued.
“This autumn, MPs and an eager Mr. Poilievre are likely to prove our point once again: Politicians only change election rules to help themselves.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
Longest Ballot Campaign declares victory in Battle River-Crowfoot byelection
Protest group's candidates in record-breaking election only garnered 314 votes, but organizers say their point was made
Elections Canada says around 200 ballots rejected in Alberta byelection
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Catherine Morrison
Published Aug 26, 2025 • 2 minute read
The adapted ballot used in the Battle River-Crowfoot federal byelection is seen at an advance polling station in Camrose, Alta., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fakiha Baig
The adapted ballot used in the Battle River-Crowfoot federal byelection is seen at an advance polling station in Camrose, Alta., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. Photo by Fakiha Baig /THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Just over 200 ballots were rejected in the recent Alberta byelection where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regained a seat in the House of Commons, Elections Canada says.
Validated results of the Battle River_Crowfoot byelection posted by Elections Canada show 51,085 valid votes cast in the byelection, and 211 rejected ballots, or 0.4 per cent of the total votes cast.
A record 214 people were on the ballot, most of whom were part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee, which is pushing for electoral reform to replace the first-past-the-post system.
The group also targeted the Carleton riding in the general election, when there were 91 candidates on the ballot with Poilievre.
Because there were so many more candidates for Battle River_Crowfoot, voters were required for the first time ever to write the name of their preferred candidate on a blank ballot. Thick, coil-bound booklets listing the candidates were available at voting stations.
Matthew McKenna, a spokesperson for Elections Canada, said “the essential criteria for a ballot to be counted is that the elector’s intention is clear,” meaning that a ballot with typos could still be counted.
“If the ballot didn’t include the name of a candidate, or included the name of someone who was not running for election in that riding, the intention wouldn’t be discernable and the ballot could not be counted,” McKenna said.
Poilievre got more than 80 per cent of the vote in the byelection, receiving 41,308 votes.
McKenna said Elections Canada took “a number of measures” to help ensure electors knew how to use the ballot and could easily find the name of their chosen candidate when they went to vote.
He said the agency released a video on social media to familiarize electors with the new format and said poll workers had training so they would be prepared to answer electors’ questions and provide assistance to those who needed it.
“As we do for every election, we will take the time to assess how things went and will share details in post-election reports which we will publish in the coming months,” McKenna said.
“As this was the first time Elections Canada has used a write-in ballot for advance and election day polls, we will look closely at how things went yesterday to see what worked well and what could be improved should such a ballot be used again in future elections.”
The Battle River_Crowfoot riding was left vacant shortly after the spring general election, when Conservative Damien Kurek stepped down to make way for the party leader.
Poilievre was elected in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton seven straight times since 2004 but lost in April to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy. Poilievre was unable to sit as the leader of the Official Opposition during the spring sitting, and Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer filled that role in the House. Poilievre remained the Conservative leader, and will resume his role as Opposition leader when the House of Commons resumes in September.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Catherine Morrison
Published Aug 26, 2025 • 2 minute read
The adapted ballot used in the Battle River-Crowfoot federal byelection is seen at an advance polling station in Camrose, Alta., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fakiha Baig
The adapted ballot used in the Battle River-Crowfoot federal byelection is seen at an advance polling station in Camrose, Alta., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. Photo by Fakiha Baig /THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Just over 200 ballots were rejected in the recent Alberta byelection where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regained a seat in the House of Commons, Elections Canada says.
Validated results of the Battle River_Crowfoot byelection posted by Elections Canada show 51,085 valid votes cast in the byelection, and 211 rejected ballots, or 0.4 per cent of the total votes cast.
A record 214 people were on the ballot, most of whom were part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee, which is pushing for electoral reform to replace the first-past-the-post system.
The group also targeted the Carleton riding in the general election, when there were 91 candidates on the ballot with Poilievre.
Because there were so many more candidates for Battle River_Crowfoot, voters were required for the first time ever to write the name of their preferred candidate on a blank ballot. Thick, coil-bound booklets listing the candidates were available at voting stations.
Matthew McKenna, a spokesperson for Elections Canada, said “the essential criteria for a ballot to be counted is that the elector’s intention is clear,” meaning that a ballot with typos could still be counted.
“If the ballot didn’t include the name of a candidate, or included the name of someone who was not running for election in that riding, the intention wouldn’t be discernable and the ballot could not be counted,” McKenna said.
Poilievre got more than 80 per cent of the vote in the byelection, receiving 41,308 votes.
McKenna said Elections Canada took “a number of measures” to help ensure electors knew how to use the ballot and could easily find the name of their chosen candidate when they went to vote.
He said the agency released a video on social media to familiarize electors with the new format and said poll workers had training so they would be prepared to answer electors’ questions and provide assistance to those who needed it.
“As we do for every election, we will take the time to assess how things went and will share details in post-election reports which we will publish in the coming months,” McKenna said.
“As this was the first time Elections Canada has used a write-in ballot for advance and election day polls, we will look closely at how things went yesterday to see what worked well and what could be improved should such a ballot be used again in future elections.”
The Battle River_Crowfoot riding was left vacant shortly after the spring general election, when Conservative Damien Kurek stepped down to make way for the party leader.
Poilievre was elected in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton seven straight times since 2004 but lost in April to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy. Poilievre was unable to sit as the leader of the Official Opposition during the spring sitting, and Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer filled that role in the House. Poilievre remained the Conservative leader, and will resume his role as Opposition leader when the House of Commons resumes in September.
Elections Canada says around 200 ballots rejected in Alberta byelection
Just over 200 ballots were rejected in the recent Alberta byelection where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regained a seat.