Harper voted in advance at an Ontario Elections Canada office between Christmas and New Year's. And because he doesn't live in the riding he represents in Ottawa, Calgary Southwest, he couldn't vote for himself.
A Conservative party spokesman said Harper's decision to vote early doesn't mean he won't be in Calgary on election day.
"He will be here by the end of the day on the 23rd, but I'm not making any predictions outside of that," Stephen Carter said, adding there will be an election night rally.
Carter says the party is also not worried that by voting in advance Harper will miss the traditional voting day photo op, where the leaders are shot as they cast their ballots. Voting early calls attention to the fact that voters don't have to wait until Jan. 23 to go to the polls, he said.
"Hopefully it will convince some people to vote before they head down on their vacations or vote before they get tied up in the everyday rigmarole of their lives," Carter said. "The highest day of voting awareness is already on election day.
"We don't add anything by having Stephen Harper vote in Calgary West on that particular day. We do, however, start talking about getting the vote out early. It helps everybody in Canada and hopefully we can start to push the voter percentage up."
