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Elections Canada has ramped up its staffing at least one advance polling station, after voters showed up in droves to several ridings across the country to cast their ballot on the Easter holiday.

Twitter was abuzz Friday afternoon with voters alternatively applauding and lamenting snaking queues in cities such as Hamilton, Guelph, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

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“Couldn’t even get near my advance polling station this afternoon,” one voter tweeted. “I hope an indication of interest and of election day voting.”



The healthy turnout could be attributed to timing — it is a holiday, and voters are seizing the opportunity to vote — but it could also be the result of increased voting intention, especially among 18- to 34-year-olds, said John Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos Reid.

Mr. Wright, a voter in the Liberal-held midtown Toronto riding of St. Paul’s, himself faced an hour-long queue before marking an ‘X’ at Oriole Park Public School — just in time to witness the arrival of a second ballot box and supplementary Elections Canada staff, he said.