Manitoba's 43rd general election is officially underway, with the writ dropped Tuesday morning and the election period beginning. Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson launched the provincial election campaign this morning.

Over the next few weeks there are a number of important dates:

September 11th is the close of candidate nominations.

Advance voting happens September 23rd to September 30th. Advance polling places will be open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily, and noon to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Provincial election day is Tuesday, October 3rd, with polls open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Heading into the election, the Manitoba Legislature consisted of 57 seats; 35 Progressive Conservatives, 18 New Democratic Party, 3 Liberals and one vacant. The vacant seat was Morden-Winkler, and became vacant when previous M.L.A. Cameron Friesen stepped down to seek the nomination for the federal Conservative Party of Canada in Portage-Lisgar. 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, PembinaValleyOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PembinaValleyOnline app.