August 18, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Voters are heading to the polls today for a rural Alberta by-election that has garnered unusual national attention. The Battle River—Crowfoot seat was vacated by Conservative Damien Kurek shortly after the spring election to allow his party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run for a seat.
This riding is considered one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, and Poilievre is widely expected to win by a large margin. However, he faces more than 200 opponents, most of whom are part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee.
Due to this record number of candidates, Elections Canada has implemented a modified ballot where voters must write in the name of their preferred candidate. Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. MT. Elections Canada anticipates that the vote count will take longer than usual because of the unique blank ballot.
The riding has over 86,000 eligible voters, with more than 14,000 having already cast their votes in advance polls. Poilievre, who had previously won his Ottawa-area seat of Carleton seven consecutive times, was defeated in the April election.
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