Errors on voting information cards leave some Winnipeg residents confused

By: Mary Agnes Welch Posted: 2:10 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015

Voters in Winnipeg South Centre have been left confused by conflicting information on their Elections Canada information cards, part of a series of national glitches that have affected thousands of voters.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/10/2015 (3713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Aaron McDowell said he and his wife first got voter identification cards two weeks ago telling them to cast their ballot at Earl Grey Community Club. Then on Wednesday, the couple received another batch of cards saying their voting location is Harrow United Church on Mulvey Avenue.

“Then I checked online, and it says I should vote at Harrow church,” said a baffled McDowell, who is the executive assistant to Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie.

via Twitter
Aaron McDowell's conflicting voter information cards. — via Twitter Aaron McDowell's conflicting voter information cards.

The couple, expecting a baby any minute, are planning to hit the advance polls when they open Friday. But McDowell expressed skepticism in Elections Canada’s ability to properly manage an election.

In recent days, there have been thousands of cases of incorrect or confusing voter cards appearing in mailboxes across Canada. Some cards contained incorrect names, others directed voters to polling stations hundreds of kilometres away. Elections Canada has said, with 26 million voter cards, there are bound to be some errors.

Another resident in Winnipeg South Centre, one of the city’s most competitive ridings, also received duelling cards, which arrived a couple of weeks apart. The first told her to vote at Harrow United Church. The most recent one pegged her voting location at Harrow School. After several calls to her local returning office, she said it appeared as though there was trouble with the voting location at Earl Grey that caused a shift in parts of the riding.

A spokeswoman for Elections Canada said a polling location in the riding may have suddenly become unavailable, forcing Elections Canada to issue updated cards, a situation that occasionally occurs. She advised people to make sure they looked at the card marked “replacement” to find their correct voting location.