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    A day in the life of an election

    Twitter, digested: Leaders vote, kids vote, and the country turns red

    Aaron Hutchins
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    Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is accompanied by his mother Margaret Trudeau (L) and his wife Sophie Gregoire, daughter Ella Grace and sons Hadrien (foreground) and Xavier (R) as he watches results at his election night headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, October 19, 2015. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

    Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is accompanied by his mother Margaret Trudeau (L) and his wife Sophie Gregoire, daughter Ella Grace and sons Hadrien (foreground) and Xavier (R) as he watches results at his election night headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, October 19, 2015. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
    Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is accompanied by his mother Margaret Trudeau (L) and his wife Sophie Gregoire, daughter Ella Grace and sons Hadrien (foreground) and Xavier (R) as he watches results at his election night headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, October 19, 2015. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

    There were no more stump speeches left to give and no more debates to be had. On Oct. 19, the final task for the party leaders in Canada’s 42nd election was to get out the vote.

    Stephen Harper didn’t tweet out a picture of him voting, but when asked how he felt after casting his ballot, he talked about the nice blue sky. Tom Mulcair, meanwhile, didn’t have to worry about waiting in line today, as he was one of about 3.6 million Canadians to vote during advanced polling.

    Across the country, Canadians were encouraging each other to vote by snapping selfies outside polling stations.

    https://twitter.com/abirabdulla27/status/656229330931064833

    And there were several initiatives online to encourage people who don’t vote as often. In 2011, fewer than 45 per cent of eligible Aboriginal voters on reserves cast a ballot, so this time around, many tweeted out a rallying cry to “Rock the Indigenous Vote.”

    And it may have worked.

    https://twitter.com/WabKinew/status/656245884582137856

    https://twitter.com/kristenrivers/status/656246027880566784

    And to encourage future voters to get in the habit of casting a ballot, Maclean’s called on mom and dads to #GiveKidsTheVote by taking their children to polling stations with them.

    That’s not to say voting was as simple as it should be. Many voters were frustrated by new ID requirements that could easily have led others to simply to give up and not vote.

    And there were other problems with polling stations across the country from long lines to polling stations not opening on time.

    https://twitter.com/StuMillsCBC/status/656137927869755392

    But for many Canadians, the simple act of voting was, as Mohamed Fahmy put it:

    When the polls closed out east and results started coming in, Atlantic Canada quickly turned a Liberal red.

    https://twitter.com/kayafraser/status/656276132979871744

    And within 10 minutes of the polls closing in Ontario and Quebec—and with people still voting in B.C.—all the major TV networks projected a Liberal government.

    https://twitter.com/NancySMacdonald/status/656284029361242112

    https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/656284423466426368

    And it would be a majority.

    The Conservatives will make up the official opposition, though they won’t have Finance Minister Joe Oliver or Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, who were both ousted in their ridings.

    And the tide went out on the 2011 Orange Wave, as the NDP fell to third. In fact, several big-name NDP MPs lost their seats, including Megan Leslie, Peggy Nash, Peter Stoffer and Olivia Chow.

    Justin Trudeau will be the 23rd prime minister of Canada.

    tags:Editor's PicksFederal election 2015