(Pattison Media file photo)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

red deer impacted in small way

Elections Canada finds ballots from across Canada got stuck in Coquitlam

May 7, 2025 | 3:47 PM

The federal riding of Red Deer is connected, albeit in a small way, to an issue with special ballots, Elections Canada announced Wednesday.

Today, Elections Canada informed all registered political parties that 822 national special ballots cast by electors from 74 electoral districts across the country had mistakenly been kept at the office of the returning officer for Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam.

According to Elections Canad, the ballots should have been returned to Elections Canada headquarters by the deadline of April 28, 6 p.m. Eastern Time, in order for them to be legally counted, in accordance with the Canada Elections Act.

Of the 822 ballots, 530 were from the riding of Port-Moody-Coquitlam.

One single vote was for the riding of Red Deer. A full list of effected ridings can be found here.

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“My commitment to candidates, political parties and Canadians is that when issues related to the delivery of an election arise, we take all necessary steps to resolve them,” says Chief Electoral Officer, Stéphane Perrault.

An initial analysis shows the outcome would not be affected in any of the 74 impacted districts.

It also revealed the issue was human error caused by a failure to comply with the written procedures.

Perrault has asked for a complete review of the controls in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Elections Canada also announced Wednesday it will hold a judicial recount in the electoral district of Terrebonne, in Quebec. The current difference in votes between the top two candidates is just 44.

As it stands, the Bloc Quebecois candidate has held on to beat the Liberal candidate.