Open this photo in gallery: The Bowden Institution medium security facility near Bowden, Alta., in March, 2020.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press For most Canadians election day is more than a week away, but not for thousands of inmates voting at polling stations from behind bars. A special election day is being held in correctional facilities across Canada on Wednesday. However, the rules prevent inmates from casting a vote in the constituency where they are incarcerated. Inmates have to choose to vote in another riding – including the riding where they last lived – under a system set up by Elections Canada to enfranchise prisoners across the country. Inmates who have forgotten their last address, or that of friends or family or the place where they would reside if they were not behind bars, can opt to vote for candidates in the riding where they were last arrested, or where the court convicted and sentenced them. In the past general election, 14,193 prisoners, including those in provincial jails, cast their vote – a turnout of 41 per cent. In federal prisons, where inmates serving two or more years are incarcerated, the turnout was slightly higher in 2021 at 45 per cent. There were 13,000 inmates in federal prisons in 2023-2024. In a statement, the Correctional Service of Canada, which runs federal prisons, including maximum-security facilities, said it “ensures that every offender is made aware of their right to vote and is provided with an opportunity to do so.” In many countries, including Britain, prisoners with criminal convictions have been stripped of their right to vote. In Canada, inmates have not always had the right to participate in elections. But in 1993, prisoners serving sentences of less than two years were granted the right to cast a ballot, in a change to the law. A court challenge by a prisoner serving a 25-year sentence led to the Supreme Court in 2002 ruling that denying inmates serving sentences of more than two years the right to vote was a violation of their Charter rights. Under the Special Voting Rules, incarcerated electors over the age of 18 in prisons and secure custody – or conditions that would prevent them voting at a polling station on election day – are allowed to vote by special ballot. The system administered by Elections Canada allows incarcerated electors to vote 12 days ahead of polling day, before all parties set out their official platforms and before the conclusion of the debates. Inmates have no access to the internet and election information online. But they can follow political developments on television and candidates can visit prisons and ask to speak to inmates in a meeting room. Candidates are also able to share campaign literature that in federal prisons is placed in prison libraries or communal meeting areas. Senator Bernadette Clement, who has for the past two months been visiting federal institutions as part of a study on voting rights for incarcerated people, said prisoners have told her that voting is incredibly important to them. “It helps them remain connected to their community and it’s part of their rehabilitation process,” she said in an e-mail. “Incarcerated people have also told me that the hardest part about the process is accessing information about the election, their candidates, and party platforms. I’ll be making recommendations to Elections Canada and Correctional Service Canada to improve that.” Elections Canada sends staff to prisons to administer the election, and incarcerated voters’ ballots are counted at Elections Canada in Ottawa, as are the votes of Canadian Forces voters and Canadians who mail in their ballots from abroad.