1.5 million vote in advance polls

Almost 1.5 million voters cast ballots in advance polls over the past few days, before having a chance to see the full Conservative campaign platform.

Elections Canada released the turnout numbers for polls held Friday, Saturday and Monday — the final poll coming just a day before Prime Minister Stephen Harper released his platform.

A total of 1,459,253 Canadians cast ballots.

A substantial portion of voters were members of Jewish communities, many of whom had raised objections at the outset of the campaign because Harper set the election for Oct. 14, a key religious holiday.

In response to the outcry, the Conservatives advised Jewish community representatives that advance polling would give them an opportunity to exercise their franchise without transgressing religious boundaries.

The head of one of Canada's biggest Jewish groups said the advance poll turnout from the Jewish community in his Toronto riding was larger than he had ever witnessed.