CAMROSE — Voters head to the polls today in a rural Alberta byelection that's getting an unusual level of national attention.
Battle River-Crowfoot was left vacant when Conservative Damien Kurek stepped down shortly after the spring election to make way for his party's leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run for a seat.
Poilievre lost in the April election after being elected in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton seven straight times.
The byelection is in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, and the Tory leader is widely expected to win by a large margin.
More than 200 people are running against Poilievre, most of whom are part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee.
As a result of the record number of people in the running, Elections Canada says voters will need to write in the name of their preferred candidate on a modified ballot.
Polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. MT. Elections Canada says it expects the vote count will take longer than usual, given the unique blank ballot.
More than 14,000 people already cast a vote in advance polls. There are more than 86,000 eligible voters in the riding.