Elections Canada’s mad dash to election day

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This article was published 08/09/2021 (1464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to call a snap vote wasn’t challenging enough, Elections Canada staff have had to contend with Manitoba’s flip-flop on masking as they scrambled to organize polling locations for the Sept. 20 election.

Elections Canada said Tuesday that all returning officers had finalized polling stations.

“They’ve had to turn around, basically on a dime and reorganize and replan — and then replan again,” said Marie-France Kenny, a regional spokeswoman for the agency.

“It’s been a busy time for them, and they’re working really hard.”

Even before Trudeau triggered an election on Aug. 15, Elections Canada said polling stations would be subject to provincial COVID-19 rules. In Manitoba, it has had to abide by the province’s decision to ban polling stations from schools.

Local returning officers had signed dozens of short-term leases by the time Manitoba suddenly lifted its mask mandate on Aug. 7, yet some businesses and churches opted to keep requiring masks.

“A lot of our landlords said, ‘well if you’re not wearing masks, you can’t come in.’ So then our returning officers had to look for other places,” said Kenny.

Elections Canada crafted a policy that they would obey COVID-19 requirements set by landlords, instead of just provincial governments.

Then Manitoba reversed course, and reinstated its provincewide mask mandate on Aug. 24.

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The provincial flip-flop, and resulting changes by Elections Canada, caused headaches for at least three local campaign managers from two parties.

None would speak on the record, but each said the confusion has hampered the effort to make sure people cast a ballot, particularly those who are less comfortable with mail-in or drop-off ballots.

Still, Elections Canada has met its usual schedule of mailing out voter information cards, around three weeks before election day. The cards list locations for voting on Sept. 20, as well as in advance, and how to request mail-in or drop-off ballots.

The agency faced similar difficulties in Saskatchewan, where the government has kept masks optional, though schools can still be used as polling locations in that province.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca