Canada election 2015: advance poll issues causing voter frustration

Long lineups and confusion surrounding the voting process plagued voters who cast their ballots at advance polls in the Halifax area Saturday, adding to other problems encountered earlier this week.

"That was probably the most horrific experience I've had voting since I've been voting at 18," said Michael Campbell.

He voted at a home for seniors on Leppert Street in Halifax and says he spent an hour in line.

At an advance poll at the Springfield Lake Recreation Centre in Middle Sackville, local resident Shawna Boudreau waited 45 minutes to cast her ballot. She said when she got in line to vote, there were 36 people in front of her.

Long lines leading to voter walkouts

Because of the long wait, Boudreau says at least 12 people left without voting while she was at the poll.

"When people are walking away because the process isn't set up to make it easy, it frustrates me," she said.

Boudreau says one of the officials working at the poll called for additional help, but none was available.

Françoise Enguehard, a spokesperson with Elections Canada, said the reason behind the long lines at polls is that more people have showed up to the advance polls than expected and voting at advance polls is "a little more convoluted" than voting on election day.

This is because when voting at the advance polls, voters have to sign a document so they can be crossed off the electors' list, which prevents them from voting again.

Enguehard says Elections Canada has been shifting resources to deal with the higher than expected demand and says officials working at polls can call in to get extra bodies to help out.

"We have adapted, but lineups continue," she said.

Enguehard said she couldn't comment on the inability to add extra personnel to deal with the long wait at the Springfield Lake Recreation Centre.

'I thought the setup was very poor'

Voter Michael Foley also encountered long lines when he voted at Cunard Junior High School in Spryfield. He says it took him 35 minutes to vote and there were 41 people ahead of him in line. There was a second line for a different poll and during his time there, he says there was never any more than five people in that line. He couldn't understand why there was such a difference.

"I thought the setup was very poor," said Foley.

He says that when some people reached the front of the line, they were redirected to another desk because their ID didn't match the info on the voter information card. Once the matter was cleared up, they would then jump back into the front of the line.

Foley thinks somebody should have been checking people's ID and voter information cards before they got in line so they would have been all set and ready to vote once they got to the front.

Not everybody had an issue with the time it took to vote.

"Had to stand in line for half an hour, but that's not bad," said Ruth Rousseau, who voted on Leppert Street in Halifax.

At this week's special ballot at Dalhousie University, students say the line was the least of their problems. Some people say they were given conflicting instructions about how to vote.

Special ballot problems

In a special ballot, voters are given a blank paper to write their choice. Some students say they were instructed to write just the first initial of the candidate, followed by the last name. Others were told to include the name of the party. 

"When things like this happen, or when we have extremely long lines or complicated ways of registering for voting, it's extremely counterintuitive and counterproductive for democracy and for this country," said Dalhousie student Rylie Arnell.

Elections Canada says the rule of thumb with special ballots is to write the first and last name of the candidate. If the name is spelled wrong, an initial is used instead, or if extra information is added, such as which party the candidate is connected to, that likely won't cause the ballot to be rejected.

Elections Canada says as long as there is clear intent and enough information to clearly identify the wish of the voter, there shouldn't be an issue.

Voters also took to social media on Saturday to voice their complaints.

Advance polls close on Saturday at 8 p.m. and will be again open on Sunday and Monday from noon to 8 p.m.