Election office now open here

Duane Hicks

With the provincial election coming up Oct. 6, the Elections Ontario returning office for the Kenora-Rainy River riding opened yesterday at the Senic River Mall on Second Street East.
Electors can vote by special ballot at their local returning office/satellite office starting today.
They have 28 days (until Oct. 5) to vote by special ballot in person, or 23 days (up until Sept. 30) to vote by mail.
Special ballot is a method of voting that allows electors unable to go to the polls on election day, or stop by one of the advance polls in their area, to still be able to cast a ballot.
Special ballot applications can be picked up at the returning office, or downloaded through the Elections Ontario website at www.wemakevotingeasy.ca
After they’re filled out, the applications can be returned to the returning office by mail or dropped off there.
Those who need help with the special ballot process also can phone the local office at 274-2706.
The returning office, which will be open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sundays from noon-5 p.m. during the campaign, is the hub for the Kenora-Rainy River riding, with satellite offices in Kenora, Dryden, Red Lake, and Sioux Lookout.
Returning officer Ian Simpson said this is the first time in recent memory the returning office hub has been located in Fort Frances, not Kenora, and this is a benefit to the community, resulting in both jobs and some extra sales for local businesses.
With the help of recruitment officer Norm Guenette, Simpson has hired 20-25 staffers and is looking at hiring more.
Simpson said staff are busy right revising the list of electors and making sure they have the right people at the right addresses.
This is in anticipation of Notice of Registration Cards going out Sept. 14-20, with advance polls slated for Sept. 21-30.
As well, people with disabilities will have 15 days to vote with assistive voting technology (Sept. 21-Oct. 5).
During that period, returning offices and satellite offices will have assistive voting tools available that feature audio headphones, tactile buttons, large keypads marked with Braille, paddles, and a “sip and puff” device.
In a further effort to make voting as accessible as possible to everyone, on election day, all voting locations:
•will have magnifiers, Braille ballot templates, and other tools to assist voters who are blind or with vision loss;
•will provide pens and pads to help electors who are deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing to communicate; and
•will provide the elector the opportunity to book a sign language interpreter paid by Elections Ontario through the Canadian Hearing Society’s Ontario Interpreting Services to be with you at your voting location.
There also will be mobile polls going out to the extended care facilities and hospitals in the riding.