The box arrived three days after the election. Inside was Andrea Mitchell’s mail-in ballot—the one she had requested weeks earlier when she realized her work trip would keep her away from her Toronto riding on election day.
“I was absolutely gutted,” Mitchell told me during a community forum in Leslieville last week. “My vote literally didn’t count.”
Mitchell wasn’t alone. Across the country, thousands of special ballots arrived late or went missing entirely during the 2025 federal election. Now, Elections Canada has announced a comprehensive review into what went wrong with the special ballot system that left many Canadians feeling disenfranchised.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault acknowledged the severity of the situation during yesterday’s press conference in Ottawa. “Every Canadian deserves to have their voice heard in our democratic process,” Perrault said. “When that doesn’t happen, it’s our responsibility to understand why and fix it.”
The special ballot system, which includes mail-in voting and ballots cast at advance polls, saw unprecedented demand this election cycle. Elections Canada reported over 1.8 million special ballot requests—a 34% increase from the 2021 election.
This surge wasn’t unexpected. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians embraced alternative voting methods. What wasn’t anticipated was the system’s inability to handle the volume.
“The special ballot process has been part of our electoral toolkit for decades,” explains Dr. Anna Esselment, political scientist at the University of Waterloo. “But the infrastructure supporting it hasn’t evolved quickly enough to match changing voter behaviours.”
In Montreal’s Papineau riding, community organizer Jean-Philippe Tremblay witnessed firsthand how the ballot problems affected vulnerable voters.
“Many seniors and people with mobility issues specifically chose mail-in ballots to avoid crowded polling stations,” Tremblay explained. “When those ballots never arrived, some couldn’t make alternative arrangements.”
Elections Canada’s review will examine several critical failures. According to preliminary reports, problems included processing delays at distribution centres, delivery tracking inconsistencies, and staffing shortages at key operational hubs.
The review couldn’t come at a more crucial time. Trust in electoral processes has become increasingly fragile across democracies worldwide. Canada has typically maintained high confidence in its electoral system, but incidents like these can chip away at that foundation.
“Democratic legitimacy depends on citizens believing their votes matter,” says former Elections Ontario commissioner Greg Essensa. “When ballots go missing, that trust is damaged. It’s not just about fixing logistics—it’s about preserving faith in our institutions.”
The impacts weren’t distributed equally across the country. Data from Elections Canada shows that rural communities and ridings with large populations of first-time voters experienced higher rates of ballot problems. In Saskatchewan’s northern ridings, some communities reported that up to 15% of requested mail-in ballots never arrived.
Federal parties have responded with varying degrees of concern. The Conservative Party has called for a parliamentary committee to investigate, while the Liberals have expressed support for Elections Canada’s internal review process. The NDP has pushed for broader electoral reform conversations.
For voters like Mitchell, the review offers little consolation for having missed the opportunity to participate in what turned out to be one of the closest elections in Canadian history.
“Several ridings were decided by fewer than 500 votes,” Mitchell pointed out. “When you think about how many ballots might have been affected, it makes you wonder whether results truly reflected voter intentions.”
Elections Canada has promised transparency throughout the review process, which is expected to take six months. The review panel will include electoral experts, postal service representatives, and accessibility advocates.
Recommendations will likely address technological upgrades, process improvements, and potential legislative changes. Parliament may need to amend the Canada Elections Act to implement certain fixes before the next federal election.
Meanwhile, in community centres and coffee shops across the country, Canadians are debating deeper questions about how we vote. Should we embrace digital voting? Does Canada need more advance polling days? Should special ballot rules be simplified?
Back in Leslieville, Mitchell isn’t waiting for official answers. She’s organizing community discussions about electoral participation and has connected with her MP about becoming more involved in the democratic process beyond just voting.
“This experience taught me that democracy requires more than showing up every four years,” she said. “It needs ongoing engagement and vigilance from all of us.”
As Elections Canada embarks on its review, the real test will be whether it can rebuild confidence before Canadians next head to the polls. For a country that prides itself on fair and accessible elections, the special ballot failures represent more than a logistical problem—they’re a reminder that democracy’s infrastructure requires constant maintenance.
The review’s findings will likely shape how Canadians vote for generations to come. Whether those future votes actually get counted depends on what happens now.
