TORONTO -- Many older voters, parents with young children and Canadians with disabilities didn鈥檛 vote on Monday because they couldn鈥檛 wait in long lineups at their voting sites. Elections Canada has apologized but said there was little else they could do given COVID-19 restrictions.
鈥淚 always vote and am incredibly disappointed I did not this time,鈥� said Patricia Au, a voter in the Toronto riding of University鈥擱osedale. She was told two times on Monday she鈥檇 be waiting for two hours. 鈥淚 forfeited my ballot this year.鈥�
Farah Hassanali, a single mother from Ajax, Ont. with five-year-old twins, was similarly discouraged by how slow the line was moving at her voting site.
鈥淚 had to pick up my kids from school and daycare鈥� and I wasn't able to go back to vote because my kids are young and I couldn鈥檛 stand in line with them for hours,鈥� she told CTVNews.ca In a phone interview.
鈥淚 did set out some time in my day to go and vote but my past experiences have never taken that long,鈥� Hassanali said. And because a Liberal win was projected before many had even voted, she saw people who left the line because they felt their votes didn鈥檛 matter.
鈥淚 don't think it was efficient and properly run.鈥�
ELECTIONS CANADA 'SORRY' BUT HANDS WERE TIED
Upon hearing the stories of people ditching the lineups, Elections Canada media advisor Rejean Grenier said, 鈥淚 feel for people who had to do that.鈥�
But he stressed the agency didn鈥檛 have a choice in whether to run the election during the pandemic. This year, there were significantly fewer overall voting sites in many ridings across the country, due to COVID-19 restrictions which prevented many schools, churches, or other buildings from being eligible locations.
鈥淲e had all of the criteria that was placed on us where we had no choice about choosing certain sites,鈥� Grenier said in a phone interview. He explained that despite ridings having fewer voting sites, there were more booths inside them, which meant the total number of voting booths overall was similar to past years.
He also noted that people who couldn鈥檛 or didn鈥檛 want to wait in line, could鈥檝e mailed in their ballots, or submitted their ballots through advanced voting during the four assigned days earlier this month.
鈥淲e're very sorry that people couldn't or wouldn't stay in line, but most people were patient and did,鈥� Grenier said.
OLDER VOTERS, THOSE WITH DISABILITIES LEFT OUT
For many older voters and those with disabilities, it was less a matter of patience and more of physical limitations.
Roy Bagnato and his wife, in the Ontario鈥檚 York-Simcoe riding, told CTVNews.ca in an email that they鈥檙e in early 80s and couldn鈥檛 wait in the hot sun. Meanwhile seniors Gord Bulllied and his wife similarly couldn鈥檛 wait hours at their voting site in Peterborough county in southern Ontario.
鈥淪o for the first time in our life we did not vote,鈥� Bulllied wrote to CTVNews.ca in an email.
Several other voters -- such as Patricia Farmer from Keswick, Ont. who uses a wheelchair -- said their physical disabilities made lineups difficult.
鈥淐ars were lined up all the way down the main road. It was not moving and it would have taken hours before we could even park,鈥� she wrote CTVNews.ca in an email, saying this was the case the two times she went.
鈥淲e have always instilled the importance of voting into our children and grandchildren no matter what, and we practiced what we preached. Well, this time none of us were offered the ability to vote.鈥�
Whitby, Ont. resident Nikki Yannique Henderson has cerebral palsy and felt 鈥渧ery deflated鈥� because she can鈥檛 stand for long periods of time.
鈥淚 think it super disappointing. We hear time and time again that people with disabilities matter, but this goes to show that we have a long way to go,鈥� she told CTVNews.ca via text, noting that simply having the building being wheelchair accessible isn鈥檛 enough to make areas truly accessible.
鈥淚deally there should be a line for those who may have mobility challenges,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to continue to look at ways to make the experience fully accessible from the beginning.鈥�
Her father, David MacKinnon -- vice-chair of the Town of Whitby Accessibility Advisory Committee -- wished that security and voting site volunteers had shown more leeway in expediting wait times for older Canadians and those with disabilities.
鈥淚'm almost 70 years old. I'm not going to stand in line for that kind of time鈥� One look at the lineup and we just kept driving,鈥� he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long, long time since I鈥檝e not voted in an election.鈥�
The Elections Canada spokesperson said in past elections, volunteers would often scan lines to allow older voters to skip the line. But this time around, the lines were too long and volunteers were instead focused on moving the lines along.
WHAT ABOUT ONLINE VOTING?
MacKinnon said more needs to be done for disabled Canadians, and this pandemic election was the year to do it.
鈥淧ersons with disabilities have a tough time voting, even with mail-in ballots. A web-based voting system is needed,鈥� he said.
He said it there should be a 鈥渢rusted voter鈥� program which allows people to vote online if they鈥檝e been screened thoroughly by the government.
The Elections Canada spokesperson Grenier cited evidence showing how online voting 鈥� as was seen in the 2018 municipal elections in Ontario -- can be unfortunately prone to errors and irregularities. He said even if an infrastructure could be set up, it would require a change to the Elections Act before it鈥檚 used federally.
Although she was unable to vote, Hassanali said she has sympathy for Elections Canada for organizing an election during a pandemic, but given the COVID-19 restrictions were known so far in advance, she wishes there were more advance polling days or more time allowed to mail in their ballots.
鈥淚 feel like my voice wasn鈥檛 heard and I understand many people are in the same situation.鈥�
