Nick Arnone’s elderly parents, Franco and Lyse were turned away this morning from a poll in Ottawa-Centre.
“It’s the first time this has happened in 40 years of voting”, Arnone said. “It’s a close election, it’s up for grabs everywhere. It’s a tight election in Centretown.”
The Arnones say an official asked for their phone number and told them they would be called later. They didn’t feel comfortable doing that, and were unable to vote.
It appears a staff shortage caused the problem. Arnone says his parents will get a ride from a campaign, and hope to vote later today.
A twitter user named Karen Parkinson, who goes by the name of Simon Leblanc online, also tweeted that she had trouble voting at Woodroffe High School. The deputy returning officer had not shown up yet.
“I went to vote at Woodroffe HS, and polls 58 and 59 were open, but there was no poll 60”, she wrote in a message to CTV Ottawa.
“What surprised me was that there was no way for me to cast a ballot at all", wrote Parkinson.
"I don't have specifics" on the issues said Diane Benson, spokesperson for Elections Canada.
But she says if there were problems, she urges voters to come back.
Elections Canada workers "have a number of things in their arsenal and try to accomodate voters when these unusual things come up". "We certainly apologize and we ask for their patience and we really do hope they come back. Even if they're there at 9:28 tonight we will make sure they will get in the door."
The Arnones were able to vote later in the day, after catching a ride with a local campaign.
