Newspaper ads call voters to polls two days early

http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/story/ot-electionsontario20060328.html

"Elections Ontario ran an advertisement in Tuesday's edition of the Ottawa Citizen mistakenly telling residents of Nepean-Carleton to cast their ballots Tuesday for the provincial byelection.

The election is actually on Thursday.

The quarter-page advertisement, which ran on the second page of the city section, announced in bold letters, "Today is election day in the electoral district of Nepean-Carleton."

Officials at Elections Ontario are unsure as to why the ad ran two days before the March 30 byelection.

"Elections Ontario is investigating it," said Wayne Beaten, a returning officer for Elections Ontario. "They're checking with the Citizen to try and find out what has happened here."

Staff will be posting notices at all voting stations in Nepean-Carleton before 4 p.m. Tuesday to inform voters that the election is in two days.

Beaten hopes the flub might actually bring more people out to vote in the end.

Six candidates are running in the eastern Ontario riding vacated by John Baird after he won a seat in this winter's federal election campaign. Baird heads up the Treasury Board."