Fewer polling stations means you may be travelling farther to vote

As people receive their voter information cards in the mail, some have been surprised to learn how far they'll have to travel to vote on Sept. 20, as Elections Canada has had difficulty finding landlords to host polling stations during this pandemic.

Elections Canada says school boards and other landlords haven't wanted polling stations in their buildings

Rebecca Zandbergen CBC News Posted: Sep 09, 2021 11:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 9, 2021

Canadians head to the polls on Sept. 20 (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Penny Finneron of London, Ont., was shocked when she got her voter information card in the mail.

"I have to go all the way down to King Street, and I checked on Google Maps and it's a 20 minute drive," said Finneron, 64,who lives in the city's north end atFanshawe Park Road Eastand Adelaide StreetNorth.

Finneron is thankful she drives andhas a vehicle, otherwise she'd have to travel 45 minutes by bus to theDoubleTreeby Hilton Hotel in downtown London.

This is Penny Finneron's voting information card. She lives at Fanshawe Park Rd. E and Adelaide St. North. Her assigned polling station is downtown. (Submitted by Penny Finneron)

"I live in an area where there are a lot of seniors and I don't know that they all drive," she said. "They either have to take a cab, a 45-minute bus ride or riskgetting COVID from somebody who's going to give them a ride to go and vote."

Finneron isn't the only one talking about the distances they'll need to travel on election day this Sept. 20.

@ElectionsCan_E

Is this a joke? Voter registration card arrived today. 35-minute bus ride or 90-minute walk to vote on election day. #LdnOnt
—@PostmanPam

"It's because of COVID," said Elections Canada spokesperson Rjean Grenier.

"Alot of school boards have not accepted Elections Canadain their schools this year because of COVID, so we had to look far and wide to find polling places," he said.

Grenier wouldn't say how many fewer polling stations there are this year compared to previous elections.

Others arealso not keen on opening their doors to Elections Canada, "so those were not available either," he said.

It's obvious some people will have to go further. That's the cost of running an election during a pandemic.- Rjean Grenier, Elections Canada

"We took what we could find, and it's obvious that some people will have to go further," he said, adding he'll also have to go further to vote later this month. That's the cost of running an election during a pandemic, he said.

How to vote

Vote by mail witha special ballot. You'll need to apply to do that, by Tuesday, Sept.14, 6p.m
Vote on advance polling days, on Sept. 10-13, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Vote at any Elections Canada office before Tuesday, Sept.14, 6 p.m

Offices areopen seven days a week:

Monday to Friday: 9a.m. to 9p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. to 6p.m.

Sunday: noon to 4p.m.

Vote in-person on Sept. 20

But although there are fewer polling stations this time around, many stations will have more polls, he said.Plus, peoplecan always vote now at their local returning station or at an advanced poll.

That's whatFinneronplans to do, since her advanced polling station is a closer drive.

Even so, she's concerned that fewer polling stations will mean fewer people head out to vote.

"Itjust irks me because I I have worked on election campaigns in my youth and I know how hard it is to get people to go out and vote," she said.

"If we can have a pop up vaccine clinic in a tent, why can't we havea voting station in a in a tent?"

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