Most of the eligible voters in Fort Frances should have received their mail-in ballot packages by now for the Nov. 13 election, and in fact a total of 275 ballots already have come back.
But town clerk and returning officer Glenn Treftlin said yesterday afternoon it’s quite likely there’s at least some voters who will be calling the town wondering where they’re ballots are.
“We have had some returned undelivered,” he noted. “If there’s a voter that had the wrong mailing address on the voters’ list because they failed to check it, there’s a good chance it got returned to us.”
Treftlin also said if an eligible voter failed to check the voters’ list at the Civic Centre and may have incorrect information on it (or may not be on it at all), they can come to the town hall and fill out an application to amend that and receive a ballot kit on the spot from Treftlin or assistant returning officer Lori Pattison.
“Say they got they wrong ballot kit because they were shown on the list as a public school supporter and they’re a separate school supporter, they can come in, make that change, and we’ll give them a correct kit,” explained Treftlin.
As well, if someone receives a ballot package for a deceased resident, they’re encouraged to mark it “deceased” and return it to the town.
Have any questions? Call Treftlin or Pattison at the Civic Centre (274-5323).
< *c>Voting instructions
Treftlin “strongly encouraged” voters to read the instructions prior to filling out their ballots. For instance, when filling out the squares beside the candidates’ names, shade in the box completely and don’t just mark an “X.”
“We’re encouraging them to shade them in because of the electronic tabulator. We want to be sure it’s going to be able to read it,” he remarked.
“If it has a fully-shaded space, the tabulator will definitely be able to read it. But if they just put an ‘X,’ it might not be enough.”
Each package includes a ballot, a white privacy envelope, and a larger, yellow envelope which is postage paid if mailed in Canada.
Just fill out your ballot and put it in the white envelope. Then fill out a voter declaration form stating you are the person who’s supposed to be voting with that ballot.
Then put both the white envelope and the voter declaration into the yellow one, seal it, and mail it. These can be sent in as soon as the voter chooses.
Treftlin said Canada Post has promised to have all the mail-in ballots in its system delivered to the town by Nov. 13. But he recommended voters don’t mail in ballots after this Friday (Nov. 3) if they don’t have to.
Those who choose to wait until after Nov. 3 instead are encouraged to fill out their voting packages and bring them to the Civic Centre in person.
Treftlin noted there will be staff there to accept ballots from Nov. 6-13.
Those who do vote this way, however, still must follow procedure and fill out the mail-in package as if they were sending it in the post.
As previously reported, the town will be using an electronic voting tabulator this election, meaning the results should be known shortly after 8 p.m. on Nov. 13.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
