Polling stations with incorrect ballots in Edmonton are causing concern about the upcoming election results for some public school board trustee candidates.
Edmonton Elections said voters were given ballots for the wrong public school board wards. The organization said it knows of 60 voters who came forward about the wrong ballot, but admitted there may have been more.
In an update Thursday afternoon, Edmonton Elections said it’s believed the issue is tied to elections workers not refreshing the “where to vote” tool in between voters. New processes were implemented Thursday to ensure the correct ballots are given to voters, including an enhanced, user-friendly “where to vote” tool.
Jan Sawyer, an Edmonton Public School Board trustee candidate, said the situation is still frustrating, but added there isn’t much to be done until the election is over.
“I am concerned about the validity. If an election is close, then I think someone would have a real reason to contest it,” Sawyer said. “There are some questions.”
“If people lose by large gaps, it’s probably pretty straightforward. But often elections are a few hundred votes apart. I don’t know what the solution is to that.”
Sawyer said she spoke with a city rep from Edmonton Elections on Thursday afternoon, and asked if there would be a meeting between trustee candidates, and was told there would not.
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“I really believe we all need to hear the same message together so we can be sure we are all hearing the same thing,” she said.
Trustee candidate Rebecca Graff-McRae said anything that could undermine the legitimacy of the result is something that Edmonton Elections needs to be on top of.
“As candidates and voters, we want to put our faith in the system being accurate and reliable,” she said. “Once a vote is cast, you can’t uncast it and that’s important for the integrity of the vote.”
But Graff-McRae said confidence could be restored with more transparency from Edmonton Elections — she’d like to have more information on the situation will be rectified, and better communication for candidates.
“We all found out on social media. I don’t think that should be the case,” Graff-McRae said.
The ministry of municipal affairs said though it has no role in the process, it is aware of the error.
“We understand that Edmonton Elections have already taken steps to mitigate the situation from occurring in the future,” press secretary Justin Marshall said in a statement.
“If any candidate or elector wishes to challenge the legitimacy of an election, they would make an application to the Court of Queen’s Bench within six weeks after an election. The outcome of the challenge would be determined by the court.”
Edmonton Elections said it has sent an email to all official candidates to inform them of the situation as well as steps it has taken to rectify the situation. It said it is “closely monitoring the situation and additional measures may be taken on a case by case basis.”
Graff-McRae said the response is not enough for her.
“Most candidates are still feeling in the dark. We’re relying on this assurance that it’s taken care of. That doesn’t seem to be a resolution for the error that was occurring,” she said. “It does feel very concerning.”
With files from Sarah Ryan.
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