Advance voting at Monterey Middle School in Oak Bay came to a stop Friday, leaving a line of mostly seniors waiting in a cold gym until a procedural error was corrected.
It was one of several polling stations on Vancouver Island with long lines of people determined to cast their ballot in the 43rd federal general election.
Elections Canada spokeswoman Andrea Marantz said the procedural error at the Oak Bay polling station needed to be corrected, but voting should have continued.
“Unfortunately, there was another procedural error made, because in trying to correct the error they shut down the voting and that should never happen, and it should especially never happen without permission of the returning officer. It’s a very extreme measure and is only done in fires and flood kind of situations,” Marantz said.
“They made a mistake.”
She believes the initial error was a bookkeeping mistake. The proper procedure would have been to call the returning officer to send someone to fix the mistake while the poll workers continued to process the vote.
“So it was clearly a mistake and everyone who was there certainly has our profound apologies. It was really unfortunate.”
Christie Adamson walked out of the Monterey gym to try to warm up.
Adamson, who had already voted in the advance polls at Lansdowne Middle School, was waiting with her mother Shari, who is visually impaired.
“We figured it was easier to do it today as opposed to the weekend when it’s probably busier,” said Adamson. “I will be away next weekend and won’t be able to help her. That’s why we both did the advance polling and I’m going to help her vote just in case she has trouble.”
As she waited, Adamson acknowledged she was a little frustrated. “It’s a little bit long. I get that they have to do the stuff but I’ve never experienced this before. I’ve had to wait a long time before, but it was still moving. This just doesn’t seem to be moving. I think people are starting to get frustrated as well.”
Others, such as Jane Harris, arrived at the advance poll and went away without voting when they were told the wait would be around 40 minutes.
One woman with chronic fatigue syndrome wanted to vote ahead of time in the advance polls so she wouldn’t have to line up for 40 minutes. The woman, who didn’t give her name, also left without voting. “It’s hard for people with disabilities to wait for long periods of time,” she said.
Audra and David Wright came to the advance polls at Monterey Middle School because they are working as poll clerks in Sidney on Oct. 21, election day.
They arrived about 10:45 a.m. After confirming their new address, they were told they would have a one-hour wait to vote. When they returned about 1 p.m., the Wrights were told the wait was now 40 minutes.
Voting at Lansdowne Middle School was steady, said Ashley Sangha, a polling station supervisor. “One polling station has been a lot busier than the other, but even the busier one here is moving really fast,” she said.
Long lines for advance voting was also the story in North Saanich, Ladysmith and Colwood.
Space exploration historian Chris Gainor arrived at North Saanich Middle School at 10:15 a.m. and waited one hour to cast his ballot. His neighbours waited one hour and 15 minutes.
“There was a long lineup leading out of the room where the poll was,” said Gainor.
“When I arrived there were about 60 people waiting just to get in the room. There were a lot of people who were older and frailer than me.”
As he left, Gainor was handed a complaint form from Elections Canada. He vented his displeasure in a Twitter message.
It will take a few days to find out if turnout for advance voting has been higher than it was in the last federal election, Marantz said. “We won’t have the breakdown by electoral district until Wednesday,” she said.
There’s no shortage of people hired to work the advance polls, said Marantz.
Advance voting continues throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Polls are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, Sunday and Monday.
Electors can vote only at their assigned polling station. That information can be found on the back of voter information cards, by visiting elections.ca or by calling 1-800-463-6868.
To vote, electors must prove their identity and address.
