Election Day: Windsor-Essex residents head to the polls in the federal election

Windsor, Ont. -

Windsor-Essex voters are heading to the polls after a 36-day federal election campaign.

Polling stations will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the region.

“Walked straight in, first booth, signed my papers and it was an in and out process,” says one voter at the Gino Marcus Community Complex.

“No lineup, no nothing,” says a voter who attended a polling station at the WFCU Centre.

To find your polling station, check your voter information card or visit the Elections Canada website. Elections Canada says you must vote at your assigned polling station.

Voters will elect a new MP in the following ridings in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent:

• Windsor-Tecumseh
• Windsor West
• Essex
• Chatham-Kent-Leamington

For information on the candidates in your riding, visit the CTV Windsor Election page.

Elections Canada says things will look different at polling stations this election due to COVID-19 protocols.

Electors can expect to see the following health and safety measures at polling places:

• Hand sanitizing stations at entrances and exits
• Non-medical masks available
• Poll workers wearing non-medical masks
• Physical distancing and directional signals
• Frequent cleaning of work stations, door handles and other high-touch surfaces

“I think it’s a lot better to do that and get the counts as soon as possible,” one voter said.

“Mail in takes too long and I’d rather just get it done and get it over with,” another told CTV News.

The numbers from advance polls appear to be just as strong.

In Essex and Windsor-Tecumseh, around 8,000 more votes compared to the 2019 federal election.

While Windsor West had an increase of 3,500 voters.

“There was nothing preventing Trudeau’s Liberals from fulfilling their throne speech they just had last fall,” says Lydia Miljan, political science professor at the University of Windsor.

She says Canadians want to know why an election was called during a pandemic.

“The tone is awful. It was such a divisive election campaign. It was such an angry campaign," Mijan says.

And every vote will matter, according to political podcaster Daniel Ableser.

“We have three rematches of the election two years ago," he says. "Especially in Windsor-Tecumseh, we might not know until the end of the night because mail in voted don’t get counted until tomorrow morning."

“We will have a new government sometime this week. I cannot handicap this one. There is just too many unknowns,” Miljan tells CTV News.

Election Day Weather

Environment Canada says it will be mainly sunny on Monday. Increasing cloudiness in the morning then a 40 per cent chance of showers this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 27 Celsius. Humidex 34.

When polls open at 9:30 a.m., it's expected to be around 21 C. The region is supposed to reach 27C around 4 p.m. and then dip back down to the low 20s when polls close at 9:30 p.m.

Click here for the current conditions and forecast.

Watch election night coverage on CTV

CTVNewsWindsor.ca will have regular updates on local races as winners are declared.

CTV Windsor News at 11p.m. will feature local updates and reaction.

CTV’s Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme will lead the network’s live election special CTV NEWS: ELECTION 2021 beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.

The special will air on CTVNews.ca and the CTV and CTV News apps, CTV, CTV News Channel, BNN Bloomberg, and CTV.ca.

With files from CTVNewsOttawa.ca.