The Chase the Ace draw scheduled for Wednesday in St. John's, N.L. has been postponed after it was revealed that duplicate tickets had been sold for the expected $1 million lottery prize.

According to Service NL, which regulates the province’s lotteries, an investigation has now been launched “to ensure the integrity of the draw.”

“The decision to postpone tonight’s draw was made after evidence of additional duplicate tickets was brought to the attention of Service NL,” the governmental department said in a written statement. “Service NL is working with the organizers of the draw and the printing company that produced the tickets to verify whether all conditions of the lottery licence have been met.”

Tickets that have already been purchased should be retained, Service NL said.

St. Kevin’s Parish in St. John’s Goulds neighbourhood, which has organized the weekly ticket sales and draw, was thronged with people on Wednesday hoping to become the province’s next millionaire.

Neither Service NL or St. Kevin’s Parish have stated when they expect the much-hyped weekly draw to resume. It is unclear how many duplicate tickets have been sold.