Vaughan-Woodbridge voter confused by early poll closing time

CTVnews.ca
Oct. 19, 2015

Polls across Ontario are set to close at 9:30 p.m., giving working Torontonians plenty of time to cast their ballots. But a woman in the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding took to social media to express her concern over the early closing time of her polling station.

“Please check your voter cards, people. My polling station is only open 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,” said Diana Leslie in a Facebook post. “(I) would have been out of luck if I showed up after work tomorrow, as I assumed they all close late.”

Within a few hours, Leslie post got hundreds of shares on social media and several comments calling Elections Canada’s information confusing and misleading.

But Elections Canada spokesperson Dugald Maudsley said that, while Leslie may have received the wrong voter card, the closing time is not a misprint.

“The issue is that the polling station that she’s talking about is a mobile polling station,” Maudsley said. “Mobile polling stations go to wards and hospitals and senior citizens’ homes - places where people aren’t able to get out themselves to vote.”

Mobile polls run from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. but are not in the same location for the entire time.

Leslie’s voter card does not mention her polling station, located at 7371 Martin Grove Rd., Vaughan, is a mobile one.

Maudsley said voters should check their polling cards for mistakes as soon as the arrive in the mail - about three weeks ahead of election day - and contact Elections Canada if they think a mistake was made.

As long as a voter is registered with Elections Canada, Maudsley said, the other information on the voter card does not affect a voter’s ability to cast their ballot.

“You don’t have to have a voter information card to vote,” he said, adding that voters can go their polling station with a piece of photo ID to confirm that they are registered.

People who didn’t receive a voter information card or didn’t register themselves online can register at their polling station by presenting a ID that proves their identity and their address.