Elections Canada says it doesnt matter if Canadians use pens or pencils when casting ballots – National [Video]

Elections Canada wants you to know your ballot will count whether you mark it with a pen or with a pencil.

The independent agency says it’s seeing posts on social media claiming voters have to use a pencil to mark their ballot.

Some posts on X, the social media platform once known as Twitter, have encouraged voters to bring a pen to their polling station to avoid the possibility of ballot tampering.

On its website, Elections Canada dismisses as false the claim that a ballot marked in pencil could be smudged or erased and would not count as a result.

The agency says poll workers are required by law to provide voters with black-lead pencils, but a pen or some other writing tool would work just as well.