Longest Ballot Committee

The Longest Ballot Committee is a Canadian activist movement known for flooding ballots with a large number of independent candidates in protest of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system in the country.^[1] The movement argues there is a conflict of interest when politicians are in charge of election rules, and calls for election law to be decided by a permanent, independent, and non-partisan body,^[2] such as a citizens' assembly.^[3] It is affiliated with the satirical Rhinoceros Party.^[4]

Longest Ballot Committee

Formation	2021 (2021)
Purpose	To protest against the first-past-the-post voting system and advocate electoral reform in Canada
Location	Canada
Affiliations	Rhinoceros Party

History

The first attempt for a long ballot was in the 2019 Canadian federal election, when the Rhinoceros Party attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the longest ballot paper in history in Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle.^[5] Ultimately, only two candidates affiliated with the party ended up on the ballot.^[6]

The movement began garnering national attention after participating in the 2022 Mississauga—Lakeshore federal by-election, the 2023 Winnipeg South Centre federal by-election,^[7] and the 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election.^[8] The committee's actions have prompted amendments to election laws to accommodate a greater number of names on the ballots,^[9] and generated significant controversy.^[10]

In the June 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's federal by-election, it took hours for Elections Canada 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 activists running as a protest to the country's first-past-the-post voting system.^[8]

In the 2025 federal election, the Longest Ballot Committee targeted the Carleton riding in the Ottawa area, where Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was running.^[11] The committee's spokesperson Tomas Szuchewycz declared their efforts at highlighting electoral reform during the election a success, amid criticisms of their method.^[12]

A poll conducted in July 2025 with a sample size of 1,500 found that 43% of Canadians believed the method to be an inappropriate form of protest, while 30% felt it was appropriate. 47% support legislation to stop the Longest Ballot Committee, while 34% opposed. In both cases, Conservatives were more against the protest, while the Liberals and NDP were more supportive of it.^[13]

On July 28, 2025, on account of the registration of 214 candidates in the 2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election in which Poilievre was running, Elections Canada decided to use a special ballot similar to a mail-in ballot instead of the standard ballot, with a full list of candidates provided at polling stations.^[14][15]

Elections in which the Longest Ballot Committee participated

Election	Riding	Candidates[a]	Incumbent	Result
2021 federal election	Saint Boniface—Saint Vital	21[16]		Liberal		Liberal hold
2022 federal by-election	Mississauga—Lakeshore	40[17]		Liberal		Liberal hold
2023 federal by-election	Winnipeg South Centre	48		Liberal		Liberal hold
2023 Ontario by-election	Kitchener Centre	18[18]		New Democratic		Green gain
2024 federal by-election	Toronto—St. Paul's	84[19]		Liberal		Conservative gain
2024 federal by-election	LaSalle—Émard—Verdun	91[20]		Liberal		Bloc Québécois gain
2025 federal election	Carleton	91[21][22]		Conservative		Liberal notional gain
2025 federal by-election	Battle River—Crowfoot	214[15]		Conservative		Conservative hold

Elections in which the Longest Ballot Committee planned to participate

1. 2024 Cloverdale—Langley City federal by-election^[23]
2. 2025 Canadian federal election, University—Rosedale, riding of Chrystia Freeland^[21]
3. 2025 Canadian federal election, Nepean, riding of Mark Carney^[22]

Gallery

• 
  Commemorative pin given to candidates in the 2022 Mississauga—Lakeshore and 2023 Winnipeg South Centre by-elections
• 
  Ballot for the 2024 Toronto—St. Paul's by-election
• 
  Ballot for the 2025 Canadian federal election (Carleton)

See also

• Canadian electoral system
• Elections in Canada
• Fair Vote Canada

Notes

1. Total number of candidates on the ballot, including candidates who are not affiliated with the Longest Ballot Committee.