Advance voting gets off to a rocky start

If you’d like to get a head start on voting in the Montreal elections, or for some reason won’t be available to cast your ballot on Nov. 3, advance polls will be held this Sunday.

The advance polling stations for Montreal (670 of them) will be open from noon to 8 p.m.

The address of your advance polling station is indicated on the notice that the chief electoral officer sent out a week ago.

If Sunday isn’t convenient, you can also vote at the election office of your particular borough.

The dates for voting at those locations are:

Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Be prepared for long lineups and long waits, if Friday’s advance voting experience is a harbinger of things to come.

An unprecedented interest in advance voting caught the municipal election offices scrambling to add staff.

“Indeed, there are problems,” Pierre Laporte, spokesperson for the returning officer, said on Friday.

“It is my understanding that the biggest lines are for the Côte-desNeiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce office.”

Lineups were reportedly 30 minutes long in Lachine, and other boroughs were likewise jammed.

“We’re adding new teams and more people so hopefully this will solve the problem,” Laporte said.

In order to vote, you must bring one of the following pieces of identification:

Medicare/health-insurance card

Driver’s licence Canadian

passport Certificate of Indian Status

Canadian Armed Forces identification card

It is also advisable to bring your notice from the chief electoral officer.

he advance polling stations are adapted for persons with reduced mobility.

For the address and phone number of your borough election office, go to tinyurl.com/kook9w3