Issue with some special ballots in Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam

May 7, 2025

Earlier 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 during the 45th general election. 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.

We have shared with political parties the distribution of these ballots by electoral district (see table below). An initial analysis shows that the outcome would not be affected in any of the 74 districts.

Our initial analysis also revealed that the issue was caused by human error and a failure to comply with the written procedures. The Chief Electoral Officer, Stéphane Perrault, has asked for a complete review of the controls in place to ensure that a similar situation does not happen again in future elections.

“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.”

—Chief Electoral Officer, Stéphane Perrault

Electoral district	National special ballots mistakenly left in Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam
Port Moody—–Coquitlam	530
New Westminster—–Burnaby—–Maillardville	33
Pitt Meadows—–Maple Ridge	26
Burnaby Central	22
Burnaby North—–Seymour	12
Vancouver Centre	12
North Vancouver—–Capilano	11
Cloverdale—–Langley City	8
Vancouver Fraserview—–South Burnaby	8
Langley Township—–Fraser Heights	7
Vancouver Kingsway	7
West Vancouver—–Sunshine Coast—–Sea to Sky Country	7
Richmond Centre—–Marpole	6
Surrey Centre	6
Vancouver East	6
Fleetwood—–Port Kells	5
Kamloops—–Shuswap—–Central Rockies	5
Nanaimo—–Ladysmith	5
Skeena—–Bulkley Valley	5
Vancouver Granville	5
Calgary Heritage	4
Delta	4
Kamloops—–Thompson—–Nicola	4
Richmond East—–Steveston	4
South Surrey—–White Rock	4
Victoria	4
Cariboo—–Prince George	3
Chilliwack—–Hope	3
Columbia—–Kootenay—–Southern Rockies	3
Esquimalt—–Saanich—–Sooke	3
Halifax	3
Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna	3
Regina—–Lewvan	3
Vernon—–Lake Country—–Monashee	3
Abbotsford—–South Langley	2
Calgary Shepard	2
Courtenay—–Alberni	2
Cowichan—–Malahat—–Langford	2
Nepean	2
Saanich—–Gulf Islands	2
Similkameen—–South Okanagan—–West Kootenay	2
Vancouver Quadra	2
Airdrie—–Cochrane	1
Ajax	1
Battlefords—–Lloydminster—–Meadow Lake	1
Brantford—–Brant South—–Six Nations	1
Calgary Confederation	1
Calgary Crowfoot	1
Calgary East	1
Etobicoke Centre	1
Etobicoke—–Lakeshore	1
Foothills	1
Guelph	1
Halifax West	1
Huron–Bruce	1
Kildonan—–St. Paul	1
Miramichi—–Grand Lake	1
Mission—–Matsqui—–Abbotsford	1
North Island—–Powell River	1
Nunavut	1
Ottawa Centre	1
Ottawa—–Vanier—–Gloucester	1
Prince George—–Peace River—–Northern Rockies	1
Red Deer	1
Regina—–Wascana	1
South Shore—–St. Margarets	1
Surrey Newton	1
Taiaiako’n—–Parkdale—–High Park	1
Thornhill	1
Toronto Centre	1
Windsor—–Tecumseh—–Lakeshore	1
Winnipeg Centre	1
Yorkton—–Melville	1
Yukon	1

Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency that reports directly to Parliament.

Elections Canada Media Relations media@elections.ca

 

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