Polling station snafus leave voters angry
A number of deputy returning officers failed to report to work on election day
Hélène Nadeau, 89, has voted in every election since she was 21, going back to when Louis St. Laurent was prime minister.
Monday will mark the first election in which she failed to mark her X, but not for lack of trying. When Nadeau showed up at Woodroffe High School at 9:30 a.m., she was told there was no deputy returning officer for her Ottawa West-Nepean poll — Poll 60 — and that she would have to return later. Her second trip — the school is about a one-kilometre round-trip walk from her Carling Avenue apartment building — proved no more fruitful than the first.
She says she called Elections Canada when she returned home from her second failed attempt, whereupon, after spending some time on hold, was disconnected without speaking to anyone.
A third trip to the polling station did nothing but convince her that her voting streak had come to an end.
“I’m not coming back. And that’s sad, because it’s the first time I’ll miss voting in my 89 years. I feel terrible.”
According to one scrutineer at the polling station, at least 60 voters were turned away from the poll, while others didn’t even get that far, with neighbours sending them home from the school’s parking lot.
One voter, Nancy Bennett, called Monday’s polling station issue “wrong and unacceptable.”
“There was no one here for the vote, doing their job,” she said. “I’ll wait a little while, but not long, and I’m not coming back. I think this is manipulation of a vote, and an important vote.
“I am not a happy camper.” Voters at Briargreen Public School were similarly inconvenienced when the deputy returning officer failed to show up. That problem was rectified by early afternoon.
By mid-afternoon, Elections Canada couldn’t say how many deputy returning officers failed to report to work Monday.
“We apologize, and hope we can get everybody to come before polls close tonight,” said spokesperson Diane Benson.
Polls, she added, would not remain open past the 9:30 p.m. closing time.
In Findlay Creek and Leitrim, voters at Vimy Ridge Public School and Fred Barrett Arena voted by flashlight and cellphone light Monday after power outages dimmed polling stations there.
Elsewhere, voters were casting ballots with their heads and their hearts, and occasionally with their noses held.
“I’m really looking forward to tonight when this is over,” said Katherine Neale, as she headed into the McNabb Community Centre in Ottawa-Centre.
A dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, Neale recalls the “heartbreak” of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“So maybe I feel a little numb to what’s happening here. It’s so depressing there, and while I’m not happy with the direction here, either, it’s not as bad.”
Chief among Neale’s concerns are climate change and health care.
“I’m looking for more change and action on those,” she added.
Voting at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church, the issue uppermost in Craig Taylor’s mind was Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he describes as “a hypocritical poseur and drama teacher of no substance.
“I’m very negative on him.” Taylor, 73, noted that he finds the Conservative Party, which he generally supports, disappointing on the issue of climate change, but is willing to overlook that “in the hopes that they improve.”
“I found the Conservatives very uninspiring and (Andrew) Scheer undefined. I found it very difficult to make a decision this time, but nevertheless you’ve got to make a decision.”
His son Mike, 34, agreed that climate change was a key issue for him, but admits he “lost interest in the election very quickly.
“The back-and-forth dirty tricks thing that kept coming up. It seemed to be a lot of people saying one thing and then the people they were talking about saying ‘No, that’s not true. Here’s what we’re really doing.’
“It got so ridiculous that I just stopped listening to what was true and what was not true and decided to wait and see what seems most logical and what lines up with my personal beliefs.”
Another Old Ottawa South voter, Chris Black, 71, felt the environment and economics were key issues, “and confidence in the elected party to perform the necessary job to run the country properly.”
That said, he adds that he has always voted for his local candidate, and not the national party.
“(Former Ottawa Centre MP) Paul Dewar was a fantastic politician and we voted for him. When he passed, we looked at Catherine (McKenna) who had some great policies and we gave her our support then, and we’ve done it again.
“But I have no faith in Trudeau. I have confidence in the candidate to do the right thing.”
Ottawa Centre voter Eric Campbell said that climate change, health care and the economy were his top issues, and that while he tends to vote in the same “direction” each election, Monday marked the third party he has voted for, and a change from the 2015 election.
Campbell describes this election as “personal” and “over the top” between the front-running Liberal and Conservative campaigns.
“I think a six-week campaign was plenty. Any longer and it would probably be excessive. But it’s been interesting watching it play out, with its unexpected twists and turns.”