Elections Canada orders 240,000 see-through masks
Even if the next federal election is held in the midst of the pandemic, voters should get a glimpse of poll workers that is rare in this time of ubiquitous face coverings.
Elections Canada has issued a tender for 240,000 transparent masks in case of a COVID-19 trip to the polls, with the aim to put a literal human face on the balloting process.
At the same time, the federal agency expects many Canadians to avoid polling places altogether, and is bracing for a major uptick in the use of mail-in ballots. To ensure that happens smoothly, it’s planning an education campaign to explain the vote-by-post system’s safeguards, an Elections Canada spokesman said Monday.
Preparations for a possible pandemic vote also involve ordering 19 million single-use pencils — 56 times the usual number of writing implements, which are typically shared by electors.
The plan is for the transparent masks to be issued chiefly to the polling stations’ information officers, those who greet voters and guide them through the process, said spokesman Matthew McKenna.
“The idea is just to give them another tool to have a more natural, empathetic exchange,” he said. “To greet people in a more friendly and human way.”
The see-through coverings will also help voters who have hearing impairments or other disabilities and need to be able to read facial cues or read lips, said McKenna.
Meanwhile, a House of Commons committee has suggested Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault consider allowing telephone voting for the first time in a federal election. The committee’s recent report cited witnesses who said phone balloting could help disabled people and encourage more Canadians to vote.
But the Bloc Québécois warned against the idea, saying it would be difficult to properly verify the identity of electors.
“It also opens the door to fraud, something important to consider especially in light of the theft of data and personal information over the Internet in recent years,” said the party.
The next election does not have to be held until October 2023, and none of the parties say they want one during the pandemic. But speculation about a snap call by the Liberals has percolated for weeks now, fuelled recently by complaints that the Conservatives have been needlessly holding up government legislation.
One of those bills would implement measures to make pandemic voting safer, partly by stretching the election over three days to permit more physical distancing, and allowing people to order mail-in ballots online.
McKenna said Elections Canada strives to always be ready for an election, and is cognizant the writ could drop any time with a minority government.
Mail-in ballots have long been available in federal votes, but used sparsely. If there is a pandemic election, though, the agency expects five or six million people to vote by post, Perrault told the Commons procedures and house affairs committee.
For the first time, mail-in ballots will include prepaid postage to make the process easier, said McKenna.
And with an eye on the controversy in the U.S. over mail-in ballots during last November’s election there, Elections Canada will try to make sure people understand the process and trust it, he said.
“One big lesson we’ve learned is transparency along the way goes a long way,” said McKenna. “There is a communications strategy in place to be able to relay the safeguards, explain the journey of the special ballot and shine a light on how your ballot will be protected.”
As for those who choose to vote in person, the agency is ordering 16 million golf-size pencils to mark ballots, plus 3.65 million larger ones that meet accessibility requirements, he said.
Polling stations had a total of just 350,000 pencils on hand in the 2019 election.