For the second time in 2025, voters in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding have headed to the polls.
As of now (August 18th, 8:30 p.m.), the by-election polling stations are closed and so the wait begins to see which of the 214 candidates wins.
Former Conservative MP Damien Kurek secured the seat in Parliament for the Battle River-Crowfoot riding in April’s federal election with over eighty percent of the votes but resigned in June to give the opportunity to compete in a by-election to Pierre Poilievre instead. The Conservative Leader had fallen in the Ontario riding of Carleton after holding that seat for nearly two decades. Liberal Bruce Fanjoy defeated Poilievre by just over five percent in April.
Back in early July, Prime Minister Mark Carney set August 18th as the date for the by-election.
Poilievre is one of ten candidates that has a party affiliation in the by-election. The Conservative Party of Canada Leader is up against Grant Abraham of the United Party of Canada, Jonathan Bridges of the People’s Party of Canada, Michael Harris of the Libertarian Party of Canada, Ahmed Hassan of the Centrist Party of Canada, Kenneth Kirk of the Marijuana Party, Ashley MacDonald of the Green Party of Canada, Darcy Spady of the Liberal Party of Canada, Katherine Swampy of the New Democratic Party, and Jeff Willerton of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada. They are all battling it out with over 200 candidates that are listed as Independents. See the full list here.
Elections Canada created an adapted ballot for this by-election due to the higher than usual number of candidates running and the limitations of the large ballots that have been used in some prior elections. Elections Canada officials note it is similar to a special ballot and allows electors to write the name of the candidate they are voting for on it. They add, “the adapted ballot will retain the safeguards of a typical ballot.”
Updates on the by-election results will be provided by Vista Radio as they become available tonight and tomorrow morning.
