Longest Ballot Committee Commemorative Pin

The Longest Ballot Committee is a political movement in Canada, at one time affiliated with the

Rhinoceros Party The Rhinoceros Party, officially the Parti Rhinocéros Party, is a Canadian federal political party. It originally existed from 1963 to 1993. It was refounded in Montreal on May 21, 2006, and was registered with Elections Canada on August 23, ...

, known for flooding ballots with a large number of independent candidates in protest of the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

(FPTP) voting system. The movement argues there is a conflict of interest when politicians are in charge of election rules, and advocates for election law to be decided by a permanent, independent, and non-partisan body, such as a citizens' assembly. The movement has gained national attention, most notably during the

2022 Mississauga—Lakeshore federal by-election A by-election was held in the federal riding of Mississauga—Lakeshore in Ontario on December 12, 2022, following the resignation of incumbent Liberal MP Sven Spengemann. After 6 years in Parliament, Spengemann resigned on May 27, 2022, to acce ...

, the 2023 Winnipeg South Centre federal by-election, and the 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election. The committee's actions have prompted amendments to election laws to accommodate a greater number of names on the ballots, and generated significant controversy. In the June 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election, it took hours for

Elections Canada Elections Canada () is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering elections in Canada, Canadian federal elections and Referendums in Canada, referendums. History Elections Canada is an agency of the Parliament of Canada, and reports ...

workers to count all the ballots. While polls closed at 8:30 p.m. ET, the final results were not known until about 4:30 a.m. The agency said it was bogged down because there were dozens of candidates on the unwieldy, nearly metre-long ballot—some of whom were

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

activists running as a protest to the country's first-past-the-post voting system. In the 2025 federal election, the Longest Ballot Committee targeted the Carleton riding in the Ottawa area, where Conservative leader

Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party since 2022. He was the Member of Parliament (Canad ...

was running. Poilievre would end up losing his riding, with the group declaring victory.

Elections in which the Longest Ballot Committee participated

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The Writ of election, writs of election were issued by Governor General of ...

, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital: 21 candidate names on the ballot #

: 40 candidate names on the ballot # 2023 Winnipeg South Centre federal by-election: 48 candidate names on the ballot # 2023 Kitchener Centre provincial by-election, 18 candidate names on the ballot # 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election: 84 candidate names on the ballot #

2024 LaSalle—Émard—Verdun federal by-election A by-election was held in the federal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Quebec, Canada, on September 16, 2024, following the resignation of incumbent Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal MP David Lametti. While the riding was considered a "stron ...

: 91 candidate names on the ballot # 2025 Canadian federal election, Carleton: 91 candidate names on the ballot

Upcoming elections in which the Longest Ballot Committee plans to participate

2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election A by-election is pending in the federal riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, at a date that is yet to be announced but will be no earlier than August 4, following the resignation of Conservative MP Damien Kurek. Kurek, who secured re-election wit ...

: estimated 200-500+ candidate names on the ballot

Elections in which the Longest Ballot Committee planned to participate

2024 Cloverdale—Langley City federal by-election A By-elections to the 44th Canadian Parliament, by-election was held in the federal riding of Cloverdale—Langley City in British Columbia, Canada on December 16, 2024, following the resignation of incumbent Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal MP Jo ...

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

, University—Rosedale, riding of

Chrystia Freeland Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for University—Rosedale (federal electoral district), University—Rose ...

, Nepean, riding of

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

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