Some South Okanagan-Similkameen residents must leave town to cast ballot

KEREMEOS — Keremeos resident Rosalie Jefferson was stunned when she got a voter’s card, directing her to vote in another community for the federal election. Most residents will be able to vote at the local Legion, but Jefferson and her neighbours’ polling station is at the Hedley Seniors Centre Society.

“I thought we’re trying to encourage people to vote. It seems to me like they’re doing the opposite,” says Jefferson.

Another Keremeos resident, Lynne McFadden, says she’s never had to travel so far to cast a ballot.

“In the 45 years that I’ve lived here, in the same house, it’s always been at the Legion or the Victory Hall.”

But now they’re in a new riding, Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, and that may be the reason why their polling station on October 19 is in Hedley.

Jefferson is concerned that her elderly neighbours may not have noticed changes.

The only way to avoid the drive is if people voted in the advance poll which was located in Keremeos.

A media spokesperson for Elections Canada says the local returning elections officer notified residents of the polling station changes.

“We apologize if it’s an inconvenience for some electorates,” says spokesperson Serge Fleyfel. “But we will improve for the next election.”

Meanwhile, in another new riding, South Okanagan-West Kootenay, a portion of Kaleden residents will have to vote at the local polling station while others have to go to Penticton.

“It makes no sense to divide this little community into parts,” says Tom Siddon, a regional district director who’s lived in Kaleden for more than 25 years.

“It’s part of the, I think, major screw up that’s occurred with Elections Canada in restructuring the riding boundaries and restructuring the layouts of the polling stations.”

Siddon thinks the changes will motivate, rather than discourage people from voting.