An Elections Canada spokesperson says there have been about 324,000 applications from people looking to vote by mail this federal election.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Andrea Marantz says those numbers are likely going to keep increasing until the September 14 application deadline.

“People are taking notice of it this time,” she said, on the NL Morning News. “Last election, we had 5,000 people vote from inside their riding by mail. So far, we’ve had [many more] people apply to receive them.”

“You can apply for a mail-in ballot through the website but you still have to have time to receive your voting kit, to vote, and to get it back to Elections Canada by Election Day.”

Marantz says once your application to vote by mail is approved, you cannot change your mind and vote in person, either at an advanced poll or on Election Day, which is September 20.

“That is because we have to take your name off of the national list of electors and this is really to protect from the possibility of people voting twice,” she said. “If you are in your own riding, you can actually take your ballot into your returning office or have someone else take your ballot and put it into a special box that will be there.”

Marantz says so far, about 63,000 such ballots have been returned to Elections Canada, a steep increase from the 5,000 or so people who voted this way in 2019.

The list of Kamloops-area candidates was finalized yesterday with five parties – the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, and People’s Party of Canada – running candidates in all four local ridings. There are also two independent candidates on the ballot in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding.

Advanced polls are set to take place next weekend, from September 10 to 13, though people can also vote at any Elections Canada office before 6 p.m. on September 14.

For more information, visit Elections Canada’s website.