Mechanical glitch delays delivery of last voter cards to Ontario citizens

TORONTO — Canada Post says it is late in delivering about half a million voter cards one week before the provincial election.

The Crown corporation says all voter cards in its system are expected to be out for delivery by end of day today.

It says it experienced a “mechanized process failure” and additional resources are in place to sort the last batch of voter cards manually.

Canada Post says about 8.5 million cards have already been delivered successfully.

The cards tell voters where, when and how to vote, and Elections Ontario says they were supposed to be delivered by Friday, in time for advance polls opening Saturday.

It says voters who haven’t received their card can still cast their ballot by bringing one piece of identification that shows both their name and current residential address.

“We rely on our partnership with Canada Post to deliver essential voter information on time,” Greg Essensa, Ontario’s chief electoral officer, said in a statement. “We are clearly disappointed that we have not received the level of service that we have come to expect from our long-standing partner.”

Meanwhile, Canada Post apologized.

“Canada Post is proud to deliver Voter ID cards,” spokesperson Phil Legault in a statement. “We apologize to Elections Ontario and to anyone who has yet to receive their Voter ID card.”

Ontario voters go to the polls June 7.