Live Update: Canada votes for new leaders in turbulent moments

Who votes and what?

All Canadian citizens, including prisoners and people living abroad, are eligible to vote with one exception. Chief election officers, nonpartisan officials assigned by Congress to run the election system, cannot vote during their tenure.

By tradition, the governor, who holds King Charles' power and responsibility as the head of state in Canada, is refraining from voting to protect the political neutrality of the office.

Voters have a single task. It is to select local members in the House of Representatives, the elected parliament of Canadian Parliament. The next assembly will have 343 members. This is five more since the last election due to population growth.

Canada uses a “past the first post” system. In this system, even if the candidate with the most votes is not the majority of the vote, they still win a seat.

You will not vote for referendums or any other offices.

What is the problem?

President Trump's tariffs on Canadian exports and his repeated calls to make the country where the 51st state controls the campaign a nation.

Many Canadians see this vote as a referendum on who can best treat Trump, while also coming up with plans to reduce the harm to the country from the economic disruption that tariffs have created.

Polls show that many Canadians believe Kearney is a good fit to play against Trump, which helps the Liberals erase the double-digit lead of conservatives.

Inflation, particularly high costs of food and rising home prices, was a problem that led Polyeble to what once appeared to be a victory in a certain election before Trump began to aim for Canada and helped liberals lead the survey.

Both the Liberals and conservatives have pledged to raise taxes, and as the country's sovereignty is under threat, both parties have also pledged to increase military spending.

Climate change, a major topic of previous elections, has received relatively little attention, as well as issues related to Indigenous peoples, another important area for Trudeau.

How do I vote?

Most Canadians mailed cards to show the polling stations and locations for the four-day advanced voting that began on April 18th. Election Canada, a nonpartisan institution that manages Canadian elections, has an online service for people whose cards are errors or have not received them.

Having a card makes it easier to vote, but it's not necessary.

(According to the Canadian elections, around 7.3 million Canadians voted during the senior voting period, which took place from April 18 to April 21, an increase of 25% over the advanced voting in the 2021 election.)

Anyone who lives outside of Canada, or is not in the community on Election Day, or one of the advance voting days until April 22nd can also be handed over at the election office.

Votes that reach Canada in elections in Ottawa after 6pm Eastern time on Election Day will not count.

Who is the leader?

Carney, 60-year-old Liberal Party leader who has been prime minister since early March, is a beginner in politics. He has had a long career in central banking and global finance.

Conservative leader Polyevell has been a politician and well-known to voters for most of his adult life, and meticulously curates his agenda, points of talk and imagery.

Two other candidates are fighting to maintain representatives of the parties in Congress: new Democrat Jagmeet Singh, whose campaign focuses mostly on healthcare, running only candidates for Yves-François Blanchetof the Bloc Québécois, seeing support in polls have been sinking to the lowest level since 2000. Green Party is also a candidate in many districts across the country.

However, it is widely recognized that Poilliebre and Carney are the only two who can gain sufficient support to become prime ministers.

Who will elect the Prime Minister?

No one is directly. Generally, parties with at least multiple seats appearing in the House of Representatives will ask the governor to allow the formation of the government. The leader of the party that forms the government becomes the prime minister, and he or she usually chooses a cabinet from members of the party in the House.

The Prime Minister does not need to be a member of the Congress. Mr. Carney replaced Justin Trudeau last month after liberals selected him as their leader. He is currently running in his first election to represent the middle-class suburbs of Ottawa, rather than the wealthy area where he lives with many diplomats.

One problem is dominant

It repeatedly called for the country to annex because President Trump's tariff attacks on Canada and the 51st state's votes were called to consume Canadians before continuing to control the campaign. Many Canadians see it as a referendum on who can handle Trump, devising plans to mitigate the harm to the country from the economic disruption the president has created.

Inflation in particular about food, and increasing the prices of most homes, was the issue of Polyable's promotion to what once appeared to be a victory in a particular election. Both the Liberals and the conservatives are committed to tax cuts.

The country's sovereignty is currently under threat, but leaders have vowed to increase military spending.

Climate change, a major topic in the previous three elections, has attracted relatively little attention as it is another important area for Trudeau, due to issues related to Indigenous peoples.

When are the results known?

Canada has six time zones, but votes are sloppy so most people close at 9:30pm wherever they are. The western British Columbia province will close 30 minutes later at 10pm east time. The election results are probably known on the evening of April 28th.

Canada uses paper voting, which is manually counted at all polling stations by Canadian election employees. Candidates are permitted to appoint representatives to oversee the count. No counting machines are used.

The results of the polling station will be reported upwards at the Canadian headquarters election in Ottawa and will be released online soon.

The ballot box is not moved to the central count location, so the first result usually starts to drip right after the vote is finished. The full count is usually extended until the wider outcome of the election is revealed.

Special votes used by people who vote by mail, prisoners, Canadians abroad, and military members generally do not count until after the vote to allow officials to ensure that they do not vote in person.

What if the party hasn't won the majority of the seats?

Canada does not have a history of European-style coalition government. There, several political parties come together to form and govern a cabinet. One exception was during World War I. At that time, the Conservatives and some of the Liberal Party in the House, together with independent members, formed a coalition to deal with the growth of political divisions surrounding conscription.

However, minority governments formed by the parties that win the most seats are common. They usually rely on the informal support of other parties to pass the law. But such governments are at constant risk of being defeated by losing their trust votes in the House or losing a bill that includes taxes and money.

In 1979, the progressive, conservative government continued 66 days before the defeat, forcing another election.

The New Democrats formally agreed to support Trudeau after the 2021 election in exchange for the Liberal Party adopting some of its policy measures. But the new Democrats were not part of Trudeau's government.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff provided the report.