Leader of Canadian Conservative Party Stephen Harper cast his advance ballot in Ottawa Friday in a bid to encourage more Canadians to vote for the coming Jan. 23 election.

Harper cast a special ballot by mailing his choice to his riding in Calgary, Alberta.

Canada has witnessed a troubling decline in voter turnout over the last two decades. Since 1993, voter turnout has plummeted from nearly 70 percent of eligible voters to only 60.9 percent in the 2004 federal election campaign.

"People today lead busy lives. If people leave voting until the actual election day, they often run the risk of having work or family commitments prevent them from making it to the polls," Harper said in a news release after casting the vote.

He reminded people that there are a number of ways for them to vote in advance, including mail-back special ballot, by going into one's local returning office or by voting during the advance polling days.

Harper's move is a break from tradition according to which party leaders normally vote on election day along with the majority of Canadians who cast their ballots.

Elections Canada, which will spend almost 300 million Canadian dollars (260 million US dollars) to try to get voters to the polls, is pulling out all the stops to get a decent turnout in this rare winter campaign.

Advance polling stations opened on Christmas day will also open on Jan. 1, 13, 14 and 16 ahead of the official Jan. 23 election day. About 22.7 million Canadians are eligible to vote in the election.

Conservative Party is the major rival of the Liberals who have been in power for a consecutive 12 years. A recent poll suggested that the Liberal Party is still keeping a slight lead with a supporting rate of 36 percent. The Conservatives had a 28 percent support rate.

Source: Xinhua