How you can vote on election day in Nova Scotia

The provincial election is finally here, and it’s important to exercise your right to vote. Even though some may be feeling election fatigue from recent municipal and American elections, participating in the democratic process is crucial.

Community and advanced polling stations closed on Saturday, Nov 23, with early voting now limited to returning offices on Monday, Nov 25. Official election day locations will be open on Tuesday, Nov 26 for people to cast their ballots, or they can do so at their local returning office.

Voting will take place from 8am to 8pm on Tuesday, with traditional paper ballots used at election day locations. You can find these locations on the Elections Nova Scotia website map tool. The new e-Ballot system will be used at returning offices on Tuesday.

If you applied for a write-in ballot in a remote voting kit, it must be submitted to the returning office by 8pm on Tuesday. Remember, if you applied for a write-in ballot, you cannot vote using any other method. The deadline to apply for a write-in ballot is 3pm on Tuesday.

When voting in person, it’s recommended to bring a valid government-issued ID. However, if you don’t have one, you can take an oath to confirm your eligibility. To vote in the provincial election, you must be 18 years or older and have lived in Nova Scotia for at least six months before the election was called.

There are 191 candidates running in Nova Scotia’s 55 electoral districts. The PC Party and Liberals each have a candidate for every district, while the NDP have 54 candidates, missing one in Eastern Passage after Tammy Jakeman resigned to run as an independent. The Green Party has 23 candidates running in less than half of the districts, and the Nova Scotia United Party has no candidates in this election.

Unofficial results will be available on election night on the Elections Nova Scotia website. The agency states that results from e-Ballot voting will be counted faster than traditional day-of voting results.

As of Saturday, Nov 23, 147,183 votes had been cast, higher than early vote counts in 2017 but lower than 2021. There are a total of 788,427 active electors in the province.

If you have any questions about where to vote or the election in general, call the Elections NS public call center at 1-800-565-1504.

This information is crucial for voters to understand the process and exercise their right to vote in the provincial election.