Elections Canada tries to allay voting-day lineup concerns

theglobeandmail.com
Oct. 14, 2015
By Eric Andrew-Gee

The success of the advance polling period over the Thanksgiving weekend was marred for some by reports of long lines and administrative snafus. Although 3.6 million people cast ballots over four days, one polling place closed inexplicably early in Vancouver. In Toronto, some voters found mistakes on their voting cards. And discouraging waiting times were common across the country.

But Elections Canada is urging calm, pointing out that many of the issues were unique to the early voting period and unlikely to blight election day proper, next Monday.

Some of the delays and lineups over the long weekend were down to the time voters had to spend writing their names in a registry that’s used to prevent double voting, said Nathalie de Montigny, the agency’s spokesperson. That won’t be required of voters on election day.

There will also be many more polling places open on Oct. 19 than there were over the weekend: 20,000 compared with 4,950. That should expedite the voting process, Ms. de Montigny said.

Some have raised concerns that a possible spike in voter turnout this election, caused by a competitive three-way race, could overwhelm Elections Canada on voting day. But Ms. de Montigny notes that the agency is overpreparing, planning to accommodate all 26.4 million possible electors, although fewer than 70 per cent of them are likely to cast a ballot.

“Our mandate is to be ready for all the electors to come and vote,” she said. “Does that mean that everything is going to go smoothly everywhere? We cannot predict that. But we are ready to react.”

Concerns that the recent Fair Elections Act could make it more difficult for voters to cast ballots have also hovered over the election. The law ends the practice of using voter information cards as proof of address, which critics have said will make it more difficult for itinerant voters, such as students, to register.

Ms. de Montigny tried to allay those worries, saying that there will be a fast lane for people with the proper identification on voting day, reducing any backlog caused by the confusion.

And voters may well respond to the stricter requirements by educating themselves about the law and bringing proper ID, said Peter Loewen, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

“Hey, that wasn’t Pierre Poilievre’s intention, but it happened,” he said, referring to the Conservative Minister for Democratic Reform who championed the election law in the past parliament.

Mr. Loewen said Canada’s election system features a tradeoff, at once more diffuse and accessible than in many other democracies, but also less professionalized and more dependent on volunteer staff. This voting day, Elections Canada will spread 230,000 workers across the country.

“In Canadian elections, there are about as many places to vote as there are in American elections” despite the United States’ much greater population, he said. “If you want to go to an American polling place … you often have hundreds of people lining up.”

Mr. Loewen said that over all, Canada’s voting system is well run, despite perennial complaints about lineups.

“Canadians are kvetchers by nature, and this is one of the things that we kvetch about,” he said.

“Canadians have to be aware of how well-administered our elections are,” he added. “It’s a good system.”