A Canadian democracy watchdog believes barriers against voting could see turnout in this month’s federal election drop compared with two years ago.
Advance polls opened Friday across Canada for the country’s 44th general election on Sept. 20.
Duff Conacher, the co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, said complications with the mail-in ballot process and a shortage of poll workers are among things that may lead to fewer people voting.
Elections Canada acknowledges that election day itself may look a little different for some voters this year.
Françoise Enguehard, Elections Canada’s Atlantic region media advisor, said the snap election call in August, COVID-19 concerns, venue availability and other considerations have impacted preparation for this year’s vote.
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She said there will be fewer voting locations in several ridings across the country, including some in Atlantic Canada.
“So there will not be less polling stations,” Enguehard said. “There may be less locations. Some of the polls may have been put together. For example, in Dartmouth, there is a polling location with 36 polls.”
Enguehard said she does not recall seeing one voting location with 36 polls in this region in the past.
For his part, Conacher said he’s not surprised there will be fewer locations.
But he said it’s another in a long list of obstacles for people wanting to vote in this election.
Conacher said there are too many steps to the mail-in ballot process and too much potential for lineups that people may not want to stand in during a pandemic, even with precautions in place.
“Little glitches will happen or people don’t want to take the time or get confused, don’t learn the steps properly, make a mistake,” Conacher said. “All that will result in fewer people showing up to vote, fewer people voting even by mail and likely more spoiled ballots.”
On-campus voting for post-secondary students is also not available for this election.
Conacher said he expects Elections Canada will announce in the coming days that it hasn’t been able to hire enough election workers and even more polling consolidations will take place.
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Enguehard admitted Elections Canada needs to hire about 100 workers in Halifax alone before election day.
“We need registration officers, information officers, central poll supervisors,” Enguehard said.
Enguehard said Elections Canada expects a lot of Canadians to vote before election day.
In-person advance polls are scheduled to run 12 hours a day through Sept. 13. Mail-in ballots must be requested by Sept. 14 and must be returned by election day.
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