THIA JAMES Groups want inmates to have info to make informed voting decisions

SASKATOON While most Canadians have until the polls close on Oct. 21 to vote in the federal election, inmates in federal and provincial facilities have until next Wednesday to cast their ballots.

As the earlier election date for inmate closes in, advocates who work with people incarcerated in correctional facilities in Saskatchewan are raising awareness about the rights of people in custody to vote and are calling attention to some of the challenges inmates face in trying to access information to make an informed decision.

Organizations such as Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City (CLASSIC) and the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, along with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan, Pro-bono Law Saskatchewan and STR8 UP are part of this effort to encourage institutions to help facilitate inmates’ ability to become informed on the issues and candidates.

“It’s not that they don’t have any avenues to find out information, it’s just more limited than the rest of us would have,” said Shawn Fraser, CEO of the John Howard Society.

Nicholas Blenkinsop, a lawyer with CLASSIC, pointed to some of the challenges inmates face in trying to access information, such as strict controls on communication via phone or other means. While many inmates may have some access to radio and TV, internet access is constrained, he added.

In Blenkinsop’s view, if the role of corrections is to rehabilitate and reintegrate inmates and pro-social engagement is part of this, it’s incumbent on society to facilitate that engagement.

CLASSIC distributed information packages, which included ballot registration applications and posters to indicate the location of polling stations, to the institutions’ management and elections liaisons to help the institutions inform inmates about their right to vote.

Inmates have to fill out an application to register to vote and obtain a special ballot which allows them to vote in the riding where they were living before incarceration. They receive blank ballots and have to fill in the name of the candidate they wish to vote for.

For inmates confined to their cells or in the infirmary, the Canada Elections Act says the election liaison in the institution can establish a mobile polling station.