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Voting locations ‘not going to be perfect’ says Elections Canada

The Princeton Legion was a busy place this weekend, as advance polls were held over four days for the federal vote.
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The Princeton Legion was a busy place this weekend, as advance polls were held over four days for the federal vote.

Nearly 10 per cent of the registered voters in Princeton and district - 350 - cast their ballots just on Friday.

Polling station supervisor Keith Olsen said much of the traffic could be attributed to the number of people living close to Princeton who would be required to vote in Tulameen on election day October 21.

The same issue occurred in the federal election four years ago.

He said local Elections Canada workers heard “a lot of people” complaining about how the polling is organized.

“Friday was the busiest day,” he said, adding that the 12-hour shifts “were pretty long.”

Related: Ninety-one-year-old Princeton woman votes from the cab of a Ford F-150

According to Andrea Marantz, Elections Canada spokesperson, voters living within minutes from the Princeton polling station were assigned to Tulameen in order to balance voter numbers between the two locations.

“It’s not going to be perfect,” she said.

Marantz said there are “many parameters” affecting how polling locations are determined.

“In rural areas especially, in areas where the population is really disperse, it can be hard to find a polling area. That makes it more complicated.”

Conversely, she said in some urban areas there are not enough public buildings suitable for polling and voters there end up having to drive in order to vote.

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Andrea DeMeer

About the Author: Andrea DeMeer

Andrea is the publisher of the Similkameen Spotlight.
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