On Tuesday, April 15, longtime Revelstoke local Stewart McCartney notified Black Press Media of a strange-yet-entertaining detail on the federal election voter cards that arrived for him and his wife.

According to the cards, advance polling would take place 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 18 to 21, in town at the Revelstoke Community and Aquatic Centre, "as expected as a Revelstoke community member," McCartney noted.

However, for election day itself April 28, McCartney's card indicates that voting for Revelstoke residents of the Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies electoral district happens 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. - not in Revelstoke, but at the Trout Lake Community Hall.

Trout Lake, just east along Highway 31 after the Upper Arrow Lake Ferry crossing, is about 90 kilometres by car from Revelstoke. That's farther than driving to Sicamous.

Travelling three hours both ways to cast a ballot is no small feat, so Black Press Media called Elections Canada to inquire about this curious and distant choice of polling location for Revelstokians.

Media relations advisor James Hale, who represents Elections Canada for B.C., chuckled on the phone that it's a "long story."

Though Hale didn't speak to Revelstoke and Trout Lake specifically, he explained how Canada's electoral map is redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in regional population and ensure consistent voter numbers between electoral districts.

Since he started working for Elections Canada in the early 2000s, Hale has seen Canada grow from 308 to 343 federal ridings. And with the latest electoral map redistribution happening in 2022, according to Hale, the designated polling locations for communities across electoral districts has once again shifted.

"Yes, it can disadvantage some people," he reasoned, adding he's heard of constituents having to drive 300 to 400 kilometres to their assigned polling station. "Sometimes that polling place is way out of their area."

Though some people "do have to go a bit further" this April 28, due to how the British Columbia Commission has redrawn the map and reassigned polling, Hale shared that Elections Canada can make subsequent adjustments to electoral districts and polling locations if enough constituents request it.

As well, he emphasized that a triad of flexible voting options remain available to best serve constituents' needs: regular polling, advance polling and special ballot.

"What I can tell people is there are these three ways to vote, and that's the way the system is set up," Hale said.

Advance polls for the 2025 federal election close in Revelstoke at 9 p.m. Monday, April 21.