FORT FRANCES—With the public having the chance to hear the candidates speak yesterday evening at the Civic Centre, they’ll be able to start voting as soon as next week when their ballots arrive in the mail.
“The kits should be in the mail next Monday [Oct. 23], so they’ll start receiving them as early as the next day, depending on how quick the post office is,” said town clerk Glenn Treftlin, who also is the returning officer here for this election.
The package voters will receive in the mail includes a ballot, a white privacy envelope, and a larger, yellow envelope which is postage paid if mailed in Canada.
Using the kits is easy and there is a set of instructions included, said Treftlin. 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.
If eligible voters do not receive their kits prior to Oct. 30, or some information in their mail-in ballot package is wrong, contact Treftlin or assistant returning officer Lori Pattison at the Civic Centre (274-5323).
Treftlin noted mail-in voting is practical and it gives the electorate more opportunity to vote. Voters can send their ballots in as soon as they get them—even several weeks before election day (Monday, Nov. 13).
Treftlin added Canada Post has vowed 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 Nov. 3 if they don’t have to.
Those who are voting after Nov. 3 instead are encouraged to fill out their voting packages and bring them into the Civic Centre. Treftlin noted there will be staff there to accept their 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 voting results should be known shortly after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 13.
Treftlin noted the electronic tabulator also is equipped with an audio feature to aid the visually-impaired vote in the election.
If someone is unable to fill out their ballot due to a vision impairment, they can come down to the Civic Centre on voting day (Nov. 13).
“We have an audio feature that can accommodate them,” said Treftlin. “They have a headset, and it goes through the names of the candidates on the ballots, and they have a hand-operated switch they use to choose the candidates of their choice.
“It’s the first time we’ve had this.”
Treftlin said the turnout for the last election in November, 2003 was better than in 2000 and he expects an equally good—or even better—one this time around.
(The voter turnout in 2003 was about 60 percent, compared to 49 percent in 2000. The total number of eligible voters in Fort Frances is about 6,600).
In 2003, most of the votes arrived via the mail as opposed to the 2000 election, where 2,333 of the ballots came that way while the balance of 1,048 were dropped off in person.
As in the 2003 election, Treftlin expects to see the mail-in ballots start coming in very shortly after the voters receive them.
(Fort Frances Times)
Featured
- #Ukraine
- #findajobWhether you are unemployed, underemployed, a student, an employer or an employee! NCDS‘ is here to help YOU! (807) 274-2282 | www.ncds4jobs.ca | 300 Scott St. Fort Frances This Employment Ontario Service is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario
- #COVID-19
- #Get-The-Times!
- #Graduation2024
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
