Don't leave it last minute: P.E.I. polls close at 7 p.m. sharp

Polls are open for the P.E.I. election as of 9 a.m. and around 36 per cent of eligible voters have already cast their ballot at advanced polls.

Those heading out might want to leave a little bit earlier to cast their ballot. 

The polls close at 7 p.m. sharp, said Paul Alan, manager of election operations and communications with Elections P.E.I.

He said if people are waiting in line outside the polling station at 7 p.m., they will be brought inside to wait to vote. But anyone arriving after 7 p.m. will not be allowed inside.

There have been more polling stations added for election day in some districts, compared to the single advanced polling station that was set up in each district, Alan said.

"In some locations there might be three polls per location in some of the rural districts."

Voter card, quicker vote

People who end up at the wrong poll will be directed to the correct poll indicated on their voting card. If they don't have their voting card, Alan said they can check the Elections P.E.I. website to see the location they are supposed to vote at. 

"You can't vote at a location where you are not allowed, you have to vote at a specific voting location."

Those who don't have a voter card can still vote as long as they have some way to identify themselves and where they live, even a utility bill can confirm an address. However, a voter card will make your time at the polls much shorter, said Alan.

"You can zip through the lines, I am hearing reports of people getting in and out in under five miniutes."

The final push

Normally, right after dinner time is when the final election day gets really busy, Alan said.

"We will see a real peak in that last home stretch, the last couple of hours. We will see it pick up around lunch time as well, but election day is pretty well steady."

The results will be available on the Elections P.E.I. website, Alan said.

"We will have our web results page put up before noon today. So you can have a look at that, and we will have a separate page for MLAs and a separate one for the referendum. It will be treated the same though because we'll be reporting poll by poll for the referendum."

Referendum ballots won't delay

Separating the electoral reform referendum ballots from the election ballots is not expected to delay election results, Alan said. Elections P.E.I. has assigned two separate counting teams.

And advanced ballots are being counted throughout the afternoon, Alan said.

"Once seven o'clock rolls around we should be able to see some advanced numbers roll through."

Follow along with CBC P.E.I. as the ballots begin to be tallied — you can tune into CBC Television, stream it live on the CBC Gem app, on our website, on our Facebook page as well as on the CBC News YouTube channel. 

You can also listen live on CBC Radio One.

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