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On the evening of Nov. 25, 2013, Rolph Dinsdale was quietly confident he was going to be elected the new Liberal member of parliament for the Manitoba riding of Brandon-Souris.

Opinion polls suggested he was the clear favourite to take one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, as the Mike Duffy scandal raged on Parliament Hill. As the results from the city of Brandon were announced, they appeared to confirm the polls, putting him 500 votes ahead of his Tory rival, Larry Maguire.

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“The rural votes came in and eroded our lead. But we were still carrying the night,” he recalls. “Then the advance polls were counted and, at the last minute, the Conservatives surged ahead.”

Dinsdale lost by 400 votes and the difference were the votes cast during the three days of advance polling.

“The big factor was the Duffy scandal — much of the news broke after the advance polls were closed,” he said.

The growing importance of advance polls is not lost on any of the federal parties competing in the 42nd general election.