Just got back from voting ..had to wait an hour. The advance polls here in Victoria (on the People’s Republic of Vancouver Island) are showing us, first hand, how Harper has gutted Elections Canada..
Dickens would feel right at home..a clerk (I am not making this up) has to hand write your name and address after looking over your ID, then you have to sign it, then you finally get a ballot..then the one and only person sent to actually hand you a ballot does so, apologizing profusely for the long delay..one person at a time, about five minutes per person…
I feel bad for the poor election workers, they must be getting lots of snark from those of us in line..but don’t give in to frustration, keep the faith, and put the blame squarely where it lies..with our present regime, they gutted Elections Canada and would like nothing better than to discourage us from voting..at least I was inside, could have been worse..
Now this afternoon, starting at 12 pm, the bulk of us were seniors and young people..probably students from the nearby Uni…I am trying to imagine the scenario when those who are still gainfully employed try and hit the advanced polls..those will be the real numbers that will be waiting impatiently, if at all..after a hard day’s work who wants to stand in line for an hour or more and vote? I saw people in the doorway take a look inside and walk away..another success for Harper who wants as few voters as possible from a region where he knows that he won’t be getting the X by his name..
And will this stupidity be repeated for the next three days as well, during the advance poll? Of course it will, according to the women running the show at my polling station..I felt bad for them, frustrated, harassed, so apologetic for what they have no control over…
I’m willing to bet the farm that this is happening, strategically, all over the country, wherever Con supporters are thin on the ground..some enterprising journalists should check and see if I’m right, because if I am, I think it’s criminal a sort of fraud perpetrated on voters to either discourage them altogether or make it difficult to stick it out..
Reminds me of all those pictures from the States during Obama’s first campaign, of voters hung out to dry, waiting outdoors in all weather, to vote for their choice..compared to that, I may not have much of a point to make, but it is wrong to try and dissuade any legitimate voter from casting their ballot.
Left Over 
AGREE.
Though I’ve voted for years with my voter card + some I.D. out of my wallet, I had to go back out to the car to get 2 or 3 other pieces of paper to validate the first address. I can see lots of people who were lucky to get there in the first place, leaving either in disgust or perhaps confusion. Some will come back, some won’t. Such is Canada’s ‘Un-Election Canada” this time. Go prepared with at least 2 pieces of paper showing a consistent address.
Because I was voting early I had to sign beside my name, so that I don’t vote a second time, or so I was told. Then they handed me back my polling card.
Seemed kind of counter productive.
I had to sign mine, too, right nest to the hand written name and address the clerk had just written..talk about counter-productive..who would vote twice when they had to stant in line for an hour (me) and then go through all that?
Well, at least we stood our ground and voted, ffibs..I wonder how many people will just look at the lineups and walk away, never voting at all?
i was greeted by first name by a woman i have known for 40 years
and then asked by her for i.d.
good luck if your unknown
The Elections Canada worker at my advance polling booth (Winnipeg South Centre) ran to my cab and said that there was an hour wait in case I wanted to keep going. I stayed the hour and felt bad for the staff who kept telling people that because it takes at least 5 min to process each voter, there was an hour long back log. There were a few angry people (I was there at the end of business) who turned around and left, swearing under their breath. Not good.
And I’m convinced that is exactly what was intended..the Right in this country is only too aware of how difficult it is to get the majority of people out to vote..if they make it a pain in the butt then they assume, correctly I’m afraid, that people will walk away and not come back..it is insidious .
Just so you know the hand written list (only used at advanced polls) which you sign against your name is you saying you will not vote again and is then forwarded to EC to update the list used for election day where those that have voted will be crossed off so the staff knows. Unfortunately all polls do not seem to have a ‘revisions officer’ so that address changes and the paperwork involved further slows down the process. Have patience, the (temporary part time) are doing their best and its even more important that we all vote this time around!
Yes, Rural, we all were informed what it was for, the point is that there were people sitting around (and elections polling place ‘personnel’ do get paid, you know) and doing nothing but apologizing..while, instead of printed lists to check off those who were actually registered to vote, we had this 18th century version of Harper High Tech going on..ridiculous, discouraging, and as intended, IMHO, has discouraged many from voting..no blame attached to those working at the polling places, as I stated in my blog…
Today, I read in the MSM that there were those who waited up to three hours, and that is my definition of torture, not democracy…
There is little doubt that the ‘system’ is in desperate need of ‘update’ be it on line voting or computerized tracking at the polls, CityP. How much of the current problems are due to underfunding from the HarperCons and how much is a Fkd up system at EC is yet to be decided! Lets get rid of the impediment to change first and worry about updating the system after. I just hope not too many folks are not ‘turned off”.
The polling staff are unfortunately stuck with what they are given / told to do!