Electoral reform, dinosaurs and ‘spite’: the ‘Longest Ballot’ protest, explained

OTTAWA — More than 200 candidates are running in the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection, though only a handful have the support of official parties. Most of the rest are linked to a protest movement that’s looking to change the way elections are conducted in the country.

The front-runner in the race, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, is seeking a path back to the House of Commons after losing his Ottawa-area riding in the last federal election. Poilievre has attacked the Longest Ballot Committee’s efforts to stack the ballot with a large number of candidates as a “blatant abuse” of democracy.

Here’s what the Longest Ballot Committee says it wants, what its opponents say needs to change and how Elections Canada is planning to handle the Aug. 18 vote.

Why are these protests happening?

The Longest Ballot Committee is pushing for electoral reform, arguing that Canada must move beyond the first-past-the-post system to something that would better reflect the wishes of voters.

The Longest Ballot Committee was responsible for adding 85 of the 91 names on the ballot in Poilievre’s former riding of Carleton in the last federal election. While Poilievre lost that seat to a Liberal after holding it for nearly two decades, none of the Longest Ballot candidates got more than 57 votes.

The group says it’s trying to draw the public’s attention to the need for electoral reform and has run dozens of candidates in multiple byelections in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba since 2022.

What do the Longest Ballot Committee candidates promise?

The Longest Ballot Committee candidates are — no surprise — promising electoral reform. Some have been going off-script, however.

One Longest Ballot Committee candidate in Battle River-Crowfoot has a website that simply says they’re running “out of spite.”

“If you only get to vote once, vote for the person who isn’t a politician,” the website for Abel Erazo-Ibarra says.

Another for Nicola Zoghbi promises “dinosaurs for everyone.”

“My first move as MP will be to rename the electoral district Raptor River—Crowfoot, in honour of the velociraptors that once terrorized the Albertan plains,” Zoghbi’s website says.

Zoghbi — apparently a Spielberg fan — is also vowing to lobby Universal to open a Jurassic Park-style theme park in the riding where “visitors from all over the world will flock — like pterodactyls” to “relive the adventures of Dr. Alan Grant and the other poor souls who had the (mis) fortune of seeing the dinosaurs up close.”

Lori Turnbull, a political-science professor at Dalhousie University, said that while electoral reform is a worthwhile cause, the long ballot protests are alienating voters.

“Federal elections are supposed to be serious events. It’s a serious decision to decide who is going to represent you,” she said.

“These people aren’t looking to get elected — they’re looking to make a point. That’s going to depreciate the integrity of democracy and the overall sense that the election is serious and it means something.”

What does the legislation say?

To run as a candidate in a federal election, one must be a Canadian citizen at least 18 years old on election day and must secure signatures from at least 100 people in the riding.

If the riding is larger or remote, the minimum signature requirement drops to 50.

What are people proposing to end long ballots?

Poilievre and Conservative MP Michael Cooper are pitching changes to the elections rules that would increase the required number of nomination signatures to 0.5 per cent of the population in a riding, rather than 100 people.

According to 2021 Census data, that means a candidate in Toronto Centre would need nearly 600 signatures, while a candidate in Malpeque, P.E.I. would need 192.

Poilievre and Cooper are also proposing that each of those signatures be exclusive to a candidate, and that official agents be barred from representing more than one candidate at any given time.

Asked whether the government is considering those changes, a spokesperson for House leader Steven MacKinnon said the government “shares the concerns” about long ballots and is “examining the issue.”

Turnbull said that while long ballots may cause frustration for candidates and those working the polls, the solution isn’t to rewrite Canada’s election laws. She said Longest Ballot Committee candidates don’t receive a large enough share of the vote to affect elections in any meaningful way, beyond the administrative burdens they impose on Elections Canada.

She also worries that requiring candidates to collect a higher number of signatures might freeze out serious Independent challengers like Bonnie Critchley, who is running against Poilievre in Battle River-Crowfoot.

“That’s not a reasonable test to put on a serious, Independent candidate,” Turnbull said.

How is Elections Canada planning to handle the byelection?

Voters in Battle River-Crowfoot will be using an “adapted ballot” that will have a blank space where electors can write in the name of their preferred candidate, replacing the typical list-style ballot.

Sixteen candidates on the ballot have last names that are the same or similar. Most of them are candidates associated with the Longest Ballot Committee.

“As long as the elector’s intention is clear, their vote will be counted, even if they misspell the candidate’s name,” Elections Canada says.

“The list of candidates will be available at every voting table so that electors can find the name of their candidate of choice.”

Elections Canada says counting the ballots in Battle River-Crowfoot is likely to take longer than usual.

The agency has said long ballots create accessibility barriers for some voters because the ballots become “overwhelming and confusing.”

In a briefing document posted on the Elections Canada website, the agency raised concerns about voters who use wheelchairs. It said it’s difficult for them to reach past the middle of a long ballot without pulling it off the table, which risks damaging or spoiling the ballot.

“These visual and physical challenges impact the independence and secrecy of the voting experience since some voters with disabilities must resort to asking for assistance from an election officer to properly handle or mark the long ballot,” the document says.

— With files from Sarah Ritchie

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press