Polls open Monday following interesting summertime pandemic election

FREDERICTON -

As the federal election winds down, experts say it's been an interesting campaign, and the results should be equally interesting Monday night as many across the Maritimes will be watching closely.

"I think the campaign ended well. It didn't start out well for the Liberals, but it ended well for Canadians because it focused on, I think, policy issues that people care about," said Jamie Gilles, political scientist and associate professor at St. Thomas University.

According to Gilles, there are three major ridings to watch in New Brunswick.

"The three big ridings to watch are Fredericton, Saint John-Rothesay, and Miramichi-Grand Lake, simply because these have Liberal incumbents in them and all three of those candidates are running against strong challengers with the Conservatives and also with the Green Party candidate," Gilles said.

With a 36 day campaign and the shortest election possible, New Brunswickers are on the edge of their seats awaiting tomorrow's results.

"I've already voted, I think it's going to be a very close race and I'm anticipating the results," said Scot Hale, a resident of Fredericton.

"Hopefully on Monday Canadians make a decisive and clear choice about what the future will hold for all of us and we get a parliament that works for all Canadians," said Mark Browne, a resident of Fredericton.

For some, election day is any other day.

"There's such controversy and there's so much stuff going on … going against each other... it's like, oh my gosh, is this the states? Because that's what it seems like to me,” said Barb Roy, a resident of Fredericton.

Due to COVID-19, Elections Canada had its work cut out preparing for tomorrow. The agency is still training people Sunday.

"Everything had to be done in a hurry. If you add to that the pandemic and some of the work that we had to do to make sure the polling places are controlled health-wise, that we consult and follow and exceed the health requirements from local public health, yeah, it was a rather complicated election," said Francoise Enguehard, Atlantic Regional Media Advisor for Elections Canada.

Polls are open 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday.