KITCHENER -- According Elections Canada more voters are taking advantage of advanced polls than in the previous election.

On Friday, around 1.3 million Canadians used advanced polls. That’s about 100,000 more than the first day of Advanced Polls in the 2019 Federal Election.

“It follows a trend that we've seen, even before COVID-19 appeared, in the last two or three elections,” said Réjean Grenier, a spokesperson for Elections Canada.

However the organization only has statistics from Friday, and won’t have the data from the weekend for a while.

“Because of those numbers, our people are basically taking votes right now instead of inputting data that we would be able to share with you,” Grenier said.

Voters CTV News Kitchener spoke to on Sunday said they were a little concerned about COVID-19 protocols and wanted to go to advanced polls to avoid big lineups.

“I think just this year, I knew who I was going to vote for and just with the pandemic I thought it might be a little less busy today,” said Lauren Nickel, a voter who used the advanced polls.

“There were a lot of people and [it was] spaced out very well,” said Elizabeth Pinnell, another voter who used the advanced polls. “Everything was organized extremely well.”

Despite making it to the polls early, many of the voters who spoke to CTV News said they didn’t want another election.

“We could have waited, there was no need to have this election at this point,” said Sean Nickel, who also used the advanced polls. “However, with that being said, [I’m] practicing my civic duty and my responsibility to vote as a Canadian citizen.”

“I would have preferred that the vote had not taken place at all,” said Pinnell.

Andrea Perrella, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, also echoed those sentiments.

“I guess a lot of people are a little bit fed up of political leaders who are taking advantage of situations just to squeeze out a little bit more power.”

According to Perrella, about 66% of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2019 Federal Election. She said if that number increases this time, it’s likely because voters are fed up.

“When people are angry, they vote.”

Early numbers that Perrella has seen suggest the Green Party has strong support in Kitchener-Centre. The Liberal candidate in that riding, Raj Saini, dropped out and the usual Liberal voters in that riding may flip to NDP or Conservative.

“I don't know if the Liberals are going to increase their seat count,” he says. “If anything, I believe Kitchener South-Hespeler and Kitchener-Conestoga may flip.”

Elections Canada said even if it doesn’t reach its goal of 215,000 poll workers, it will still be able to run an election. Currently only about 160,000 to 170,000 workers have signed up.

“We’re in need of more workers all across the country,” Grenier said.

Advanced polling opened on Friday and closes on Monday.

To mail in a ballot, voters must apply by Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Canadians can only vote at their assigned polling station Sept. 20.