The Longest Ballot Committee (LBC) will field 200 candidates in the upcoming Alberta byelection, where Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is running.

The LBC emailed supporters with a plan to get 200 candidates on the ballot in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding. They are seeking help from local residents to collect the required 100 nomination signatures per candidate, reported the Epoch Times.

More than 90 candidates backed by the LBC ran in Carleton, contributing to Poilievre's defeat on April 28. The group said it will "do our best to make a long ballot happen [again]."

LBC associate Donovan Eckstrom, a Carleton candidate, stated in January that their campaign would target Poilievre's Carleton riding and Chrystia Freeland's University-Rosedale seat. Their initial plan to field numerous candidates in Freeland's riding was later abandoned.

The Ballot Committee caused voting delays by fielding 77 candidates in the Toronto-St. Paul's June 2024 by-election.

Independent and fringe candidates received 817 votes on April 28, which contributed to Poilievre’s 4,315-vote defeat to a Liberal challenger.

Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault expressed concerns to the House of Commons in November 2024 that the protest movement could impede voting for Canadians with language or accessibility barriers. They formed to protest Canada's first-past-the-post system, amid failed promises of electoral reform.

After representing his Ottawa riding for almost 20 years, Poilievre lost the seat to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy, citing a declining Conservative vote share, substantial population increase and riding redistribution.

On Tuesday, the Tory told reporters that the electoral map "has changed dramatically" in recent years, though he did not address his election loss.

"If you told me that we would get 41% of the vote a couple of years ago, I would have said, 'wow, that's ambitious,'" Poilievre said.

"But if you told me that we would get 41% of the vote and still not win, I would have said 'you're crazy,' but in fact our electoral map has changed."

He pledged to grow the movement further in the coming months and years by "listening carefully" to people at town halls and other events.

Poilievre, who visited Battle River-Crowfoot on Monday, intends to seek a prompt by-election in the riding to re-enter Parliament as the Official Opposition leader. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would soon call a by-election, but did not clarify a date.

Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned his seat last week after winning with 81.8% of the vote, among the safest Conservative ridings in Canada.

"Pierre Poilievre just finished a remarkable national campaign that received the highest vote share since 1988," Kurek said in a statement. The Conservatives finished with 8,097,281 votes, or 41.3% of total ballots cast, over two million more votes compared to the 2021 election.

"An unstoppable movement has grown under his leadership," continued Kurek, "and I know we need Pierre fighting in the House of Commons to hold the Liberal minority government to account." 

"This is what's best for Canada, and is what's best for Battle River-Crowfoot."

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