Just more than 23,000 Canadians have voted early in five byelections slated for April 3. Elections Canada released the totals on Tuesday.

As is usually the case, advance voting in these byelections was lower than in a general election. In the 2015 federal vote 53,610 cast early ballots in these ridings. The election that year saw a massive national turnout in the advance polls with 3.6 million votes cast, a 71 per cent increase over the early voting turnout in 2011.

The most early votes this year were cast in the riding of Markham-Thornhill with 5,577 where the PMO’s former appointments secretary Mary Ng is running for election to replace former MP and cabinet minister John McCallum, who is the new envoy to China. Ng’s candidacy caused an uproar among Liberals in the riding, with some accusing the party of meddling to ensure her victory.

The riding of Saint-Laurent saw the lowest early turnout of 3,471. Saint Laurent is the riding of former Liberal leader and Global Affairs minister Stephane Dion, who has left politics for a diplomatic post. Saint-Laurent saw an upset win by Emmanuella Lambropoulos for the Liberal nomination. She defeated a party favourite, the former Quebec cabinet minister Yolande James. The nomination process saw controversy when Alan DeSousa, the veteran mayor of the city of Saint-Laurent, was blocked from running for the nomination.

The two Alberta ridings of Calgary Heritage and Calgary Midnapore had advance voter turnouts of 4,843 and 4,450 respectively. Both are seen as safe Conservative seats. Calgary Heritage was held by former prime minister Stephen Harper and former immigration minister Jason Kenney left his post in Calgary Midnapore to contest and win the Progressive Conservative leadership in Alberta.

The riding of Ottawa-Vanier saw 4,734 advanced voters down sharply from 13,460 early voters the riding had in the 2015 election.

The prime minister has campaigned with all five Liberal party candidates, prompting attacks from the opposition. Conservative House leader Candice Bergen said Justin Trudeau should not be campaigning during byelections.

Ottawa-Vanier NDP candidate Emilie Taman said she believes the prime minister is worried about the pending results of the byelections, which is why he is putting in the effort to visit each riding.

“I think it’s clear that he’s starting to feel the heat from all the backlighting he’s been doing on a lot of issues that were important to all Canadians including many who live in Ottawa-Vanier,” she said.

Ottawa-Vanier Liberal hopeful Mona Fortier defended Trudeau in an email to iPolitics noting that the PM has campaigned in every byelection since becoming Liberal leader in 2013.

Taman had company of her own joining her on the campaign trail with NDP MPs and leadership candidates Peter Julian, Guy Caron and Niki Ashton campaigning with her on Friday.

The Ottawa-Vanier byelection was called to fill the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger from ALS in August 2015. A Liberal has won the riding since its creation in the mid-1930s. Fortier, if elected, would be the first woman to represent the riding.

Candidates in Ottawa-Vanier will square off in two more debates before the vote on Monday. The first will be held Wednesday at Colonel By Secondary School and the final debate will be March 31 and will focus on the environment.

“It’s just an opportunity for voters to really see the candidates share their competing views for the riding and on national issues so I think it gives them a lot to work with in terms of who to support in the byelection,” Taman said.

Dustin Cook is a journalism student at Carleton University.