Federal election 2015: Islanders cast advance ballots over Thanksgiving weekend

Islanders lined up in droves over the weekend to cast their ballots in advance polls for the upcoming federal election.

A total of 19 advance polls were open in P.E.I.'s four ridings from Friday to Monday.

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While P.E.I.-specific numbers aren't available yet, Elections Canada said Monday that around 2.4 million Canadians voted during the first three advance polling days, a 16-per-cent increase over the same period during the 2011 federal election.

As an everyday person, it's one of the few chances you have to really make a difference in the way the country's run.- Nadia Prigoda-Lee

"I can report, having checked with the different offices, that there was quite a lot of traffic on Friday [and] Saturday," said Françoise Enguehard, the regional media advisor for Elections Canada in the Atlantic provinces.

"There were long lines everywhere in the Atlantic provinces. There were long lines especially on Friday all across Canada, and Elections Canada did the best that was possible to do to reassign people to change things around so that those long waits could be diminished a bit for people."

'One vote matters'

In Charlottetown, waits at some advance polls were as long as an hour over the weekend — but that didn't deter voters.

"I'm here to vote because one vote matters, it'll make a difference. And of course I want to be participating in that as a Canadian citizen," Nafisa Amiri told CBC News.

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"I came originally from central Asia, from Kyrgyzstan, and my dad came from Afghanistan … I like that people get the chance to have a say and make a difference instead of being in a corrupted place where you don't get a say."

Rudolph Gallant agreed.

"I'm here to cast my vote, which everybody should do. A lot of people say, 'Oh, one vote don't make a difference.' But it does. Everybody should vote," he said.

"It's important because if you don't vote, you haven't got a chance."

Nadia Prigoda-Lee said casting an early ballot over the Thanksgiving weekend made a lot of sense.

"It's a great idea because we're all talking about it anyways, so this is a chance to show my daughter that this is important to me," she said.

"As an everyday person, it's one of the few chances you have to really make a difference in the way the country's run, so that's what I'm trying to do."

Canada's next federal election is on Oct. 19.