HAMILTON, Canada

Elections Canada said Tuesday that 19.6 million Canadians participated in the 45th federal general election on April 28.

"Elections Canada's preliminary estimates indicate that 19,583,016 Canadians cast a ballot. This translates into a voter turnout rate of about 68.65%," according to a statement.

Of the votes, 11,062,539 were cast at polling stations on election day, with an additional 7,280,975 Canadians voting in advance polls between April 18 and April 21.

Special ballots from within and outside electoral districts accounted for another 1.2 million votes.

"I want to thank the some 230,000 people who helped deliver the election," said Stephane Perrault, chief electoral officer of Canada, in a statement.

The final voting results will be published in the coming months.

According to preliminary results, the Liberal Party of Canada secured victory in Monday's elections with more than 43% votes, granting the ruling party another four-year mandate.

The Liberals, which won 169 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons with the current vote rate, fell short of the 172 seats needed to form a majority government.

The main opposition Conservative Party, which won 41.4% of the vote, received 144 seats with the current share of votes.