Voters kits going out next week

With the municipal byelection coming up Jan. 14, eligible voters in Fort Frances will begin receiving their voting kits in the mail starting next week.
DataFix—the company creating, printing, and mailing the voting kits for this byelection—is in the process of preparing them for mail-out starting Dec. 18.
Voters should receive their voting kits in the mail starting next Thursday or Friday, and continue to do so through the week of Dec. 24, town clerk and returning officer Glenn Treftlin said Monday.
“If you haven’t got your kit by Dec. 31, give us a call. It might have been returned to us, undelivered or whatever,” noted Treftlin.
“And if that’s the case, we will retain those on file in alphabetical order so if anybody phones in after Dec. 31, giving the post office some time for their deliveries to take place, then we’ll check our inventory of returned voter kits here and see if we have it,” he explained.
“If not, then we’ll have blank ones.
“If a person comes in and says they have not received a kit and have not previously voted and are qualified to vote, then we can arrange to issue them a blank kit,” Treftlin noted.
Those people must bring I.D. along to prove who they are.
Treftlin said the reason for them not getting their voting kits likely would be because they weren’t on the voters’ list or their address was incorrect.
Treftlin had asked the public to check the voters’ list prior to last Friday afternoon—and let the town know if they needed to be added to the list or have their address changed.
“We were hoping to have that done by Friday [Dec. 7] so the people sending the voter kits out would have as current information as possible, so any corrections to addresses and such could be in the system before the kits get addressed and mailed out,” he explained.
Datafix was notified of any changes to the voters’ list on Friday. Treftlin noted about 30-40 changes were requested.
“There was not a lot, not like we were hoping for. But then maybe that indicates that the list is in good shape,” said Treftlin, adding the list was last updated for the 2006 municipal election.
The voters’ list will continue to be available during business hours at the Memorial Sports Centre, Fort Frances Public Library, and Civic Centre, as well as on the town’s website at www.fort-frances.com
All electors who did not receive a voter kit, or received a wrong kit, are urged to check the list to ensure they are included on it and their information is correct.
If not, additions or changes to the voters’ list can be done only by completing the form available where the lists are located or at the clerk’s office.
The completed form is to be brought to the clerk’s office.
< *c>Follow instructions
Once voters receive their kits in the mail, Treftlin said they can fill out and mail in their yellow return envelopes any time prior to Jan. 14. (No return envelopes will be accepted after 8 p.m. on Jan. 14, either by personal delivery or mail).
If they choose to return their voter kit in person, a ballot return box will be at the information desk at the Civc Centre.
Each voter kits consists of a white outer envelope containing a page of highlighted instructions, a voter declaration form (this is a form at the bottom of the instruction page), a ballot, a white secrecy envelope, and a yellow return envelope.
Treftlin urged all voters to read and follow all the directions in their voting kit before filling out their ballot and returning it.
This includes:
•making sure they sign the voter declaration form included in the kit;
•after filling out their ballot, putting it in the white secrecy envelope;
•then putting the white secrecy envelope, as well as the signed voter declaration form, inside the yellow return envelope; and
•mailing that yellow envelope, or returning it to the Civic Centre in person.
There also is a check list on the reverse side of the kit’s yellow return envelope to help voters out.
Treftlin noted voters also can keep an eye open for a flyer inserted in next Monday’s Daily Bulletin (Dec. 17) with more election information.
“It will be informative,” he said. “If they want to look through that, there’s a lot of valuable information there that will help them with their ballot.
Inquiries regarding the election or filling out voter kits can be directed to Treftlin or assistant returning officer Lori Pattison at 274-5373.