City extends hours at some polling stations in Hamilton after delayed start on election day

Big names, policy flipflops,hateful vandalism, privacy breaches and guaranteed change.Those are just a few waysto describe the winding road to election day in Hamilton.

The pressure has been building since the start of the year, when some people announced their political intentionsearly and try to get a head start on the competition.

It all culminates today, asresidentsheading to the polls and casttheir ballots to decide who their mayor, councillor and school board trustee will be for the next four years.

City extends voting timeat some polling stations

Polls were supposed to open at 10 a.m. but some didn't, leading the city clerk to extend voting times at some polling stations.

Those stations are:

• Dream Centre (Ward 3) opened 11:00 a.m., and closing at 9:00 p.m.
• Richard Beasley Elementary School (Ward 6) opened 10:25 a.m., and closing at 8:25 p.m.
• Salvation Army Mountain Citadel (Ward 6) opened 10:15 a.m., and closing at 8:15 p.m.
• Huntington Park Recreation Centre (Ward 6) opened 10:05 a.m., and closing at 8:05 p.m.
• Sackville Hill Senior Centre (Ward 7) opened 10:13 a.m., and closing at 8:13 p.m.
• Lawfield Arena (Ward 7)opened10:10a.m., and closingat 8:10 p.m.
• Harmony Baptist Church (Ward 8)opened10:06a.m., and closing at 8:06 p.m.
• St. Paul's (Ward 9)opened10:10a.m., and closing at 8:10 p.m.
• Royal Canadian Legion (Ward 12)opened11:20a.m., and closing at 9:20 p.m.
• Sir William Osler(Ward 13) opened10:15a.m., andclosing at 8:15 p.m.
• Dundas Lions Memorial (Ward 13) opened10:07a.m., and closing at 8:07 p.m.
• Dundas Valley Secondary School (Ward 13) opened10:45a.m., and closing at 8:45 p.m.

Ward 13 residentMarianela Quinlanarrived at apolling station at Dundas Valley Secondary School shortly after10 a.m. hoping to be in and out quickly. Instead, she told CBC Hamilton she spent a little over an hour trying to vote.

She said at first, she didn't think much of the lineup at the door and started chatting with other voters nearby.

"But then I saw a mass kind of exodus of people leaving, and they were saying the computer systems are down and we're not going to be able to vote right now."

She was eventuallytold she could vote at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School, she said."There was a bit of a lineup there, because now you have the regular people [where]that was their polling station and those of us who left the high school to go and vote as well."

That polling station was also having technical difficulties, Quinlansaid, but she was able to vote there.

While she was trying to not be bothered by the delays, there were some voters who weren't so happy, she said."You could see that other people were frustrated about it."

She said she saw a few people leave before voting.

• Want to read more about the election? Find everything we've written about it here.

Her brother, Roberto Quinlan, who also lives in Ward 13, said he faced a 20-minute delay at his polling station atSir William Osler Elementary School because of an issue, he was told, with theelectronic tabulationmachine, which was eventually resolved.

City clerk Andrea Holland told CBC Hamilton people are still able to vote, even in the event of technical issues.

"Eligible voters can still cast their vote at their polling station manually and ballots will be tabulated once the tabulators are up and running.While technology issues are rare, contingency plans to vote manually are in place.

"There's always an issue that comes up in any election. And we address that. Wehave contingencies in place."

In Ward 3, one council candidate took to social media tourgevoters facing delays that"if you have the ability to spend a little bitmore time, just bepatient until it does get done."

Meanwhile, other voters had no issues at all.

Ward 4 resident Penny Daw voted around noon at a polling station on Cannon Street East near her home on Kenilworth Avenue North.

She said the voting process "was fine," there were no lines and she was in and out in five minutes. "I didn't receive a voter card but they were very efficient in there. When they lookedon the list and found I wasn't there, they added me," she said.

A 'change' election

Voting day challengesaside, residents in the lead up to Monday have been calling for change, and this election, they're bound to get some.There will be a new mayor and at least six new councillors, some of whom have been representing their wards for decades.

The outgoing politicians are:

• Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
• Ward 4 Coun.Sam Merulla.
• Ward 5 Coun.Powers.
• Ward 11 Coun. Brenda Johnson.
• Ward 12Coun. Lloyd Ferguson.
• Ward 14 Coun. Terry Whitehead.
• Wrd 15 Coun.Judi Partridge.

Peter Graefe, a McMaster University associate professor of political science, said councillors who run for re-election usually win, but it isn't a safe bet especially this year as the appetite for change is apparent.

"A number of the sitting councillors runningagain are facing strong challenges, which again, there's a possibility one or two of them may lose," he said.

Graefe saidWards 2,3, 7 and 10 are among theones to watch.

Across the board, there will be new faces and there have already been many promises,but what policiesend up finding support,how each elected officialrepresents their residents and how those politicianschoose to lead are all questions that won't get answered until after the election.

What have residentstold us they're looking for?

Daw, the voter in Ward 4, said change is what makes this election different.

"Everyone says they want change, well, you are going to get it.... We're going to get a change in this ward because Sam Merulla is not running, he's retiring, so that leaves a spot open for a new council person. So hopefully we get somebody good that is into taking care of this area," she said.

Roberto Quinlan says he feels the same in Ward 13.

"I'm really excited by the potential for a lot of new, progressive ward councillors to be elected and unseat longtime incumbents," he said.

"It feels like there's way more voter engagement. I see way more election signs compared to other municipal elections.Atleast in Hamilton, it feels very different compared to other elections."

Clifton van der Linden, anassistant professor of political science at McMaster and founder of Vox Pop Labs (the creator of VoteCompass), said VoteCompass data out of Hamilton points tosome ofmain issues on the minds of residents.

"You certainly see an emphasis on housing, property taxes, municipal services," he said.

"Also in Hamilton, in particular, an emphasis on the way the city is managed, and the way city council operates and the way councillors behave is something that seems to be fairly prominent among Hamilton voters."

Residents have expressed concern overthese issues in recent weeks.

"We can't afford to live here. So where are we supposed to go?" Brittany Simpsonasked when speaking toCBC Hamilton in September.

"There's so many encampments and everyone wonders what we can do ... when they move them, they just move to a different place. It doesn't solve the problem," Roopali Ghorpade said.

"We definitely need a new council altogether," Alissa Fairley said.

Some opinion columnistsfor CBC Hamilton, meanwhile, have seen signs of promise in candidates running for city council.

What issues have come up during the election?

The election has had issues of its own.

Many residents who signed up formail-in ballots complained about theirballots coming in late, having unclear instructions and missing pens to ink their decisions.

There was also a sizeable privacy breach afterthecity sent an emailtoaround 450 people, exposing theirnames and email addresses.

Hamilton police have also had to investigate at least three incidents of candidates having their signs vandalized.

One of those incidents was considered a hate crime and appeared to be part of a largerwhite supremacistpropaganda campaign.

"The way they've been vandalized is really problematic in a city that has already developed a reputation nationally for incidents of hate," said van der Linden.

The top mayoral candidates have also faced their fair share of criticism during the campaign.

Bob Bratina, a former mayor, has been questioned for a shift in his campaign that labelled his competitors as the "far left" and mentioned "special interest" candidates as potentially taking over the city.Andrea Horwath faced some criticism for stepping down as Hamilton Centre member of provincial parliamentto run for mayor.Loomis has had to clarify his position on several issues, like how to tackle affordable housing and area rating,much to the ire of some voters.

There are157 polling stations across all 15wards and the polls areopen in most casesuntil 8 p.m.