Trustee ballot errors must be rectified

There have been several instances over the first three days of advance polling where incorrect ward ballots for Edmonton Public School trustees have been distributed at polling stations. When electors arrive, they are asked for their address. The official then determines what ballot they need. In some instances, that decision has been incorrect.

Some apparently vote anyway, though not for the candidate they came prepared to support. In at least one instance, the elector insisted that the ballot they were given was incorrect. A phone call to an election official confirmed that was the case, so they were then given the correct ballot. Yet others simply did not vote for any trustee.

This is obviously a problem. Voters are being deprived of their right to vote for a trustee. While city election officials were made aware of the problem on the first day of voting, there has been no response whatever — no recognition of the serious nature of the problem, no assurance that the matter will be addressed and rectified. It must be.

Integrity of our voting system is the basis of our democracy. Officials must explain how they will ensure that their voter data is now correct. But they must also explain how they can rectify the errors that have already occurred. Without such assurance, how can we trust that the outcome of an election represents the will of the voters?

Bev Sawyer, Edmonton