One of our committee’s mandates is to identify gaps and barriers that impede the full participation of older adults in all aspects of City life.
Full participation includes the ability of all residents to vote in the November 15 civic election, but we have heard from many residents that a significant barrier is posed by the absence of advance polling stations in the northeast quadrant of the City. This quadrant includes the Grandview-Woodland, Downtown Eastside, and Renfrew areas, all of which have a sizable population of older adults, especially those with low incomes.
The community centres that have been designated as advance polling stations for November 4-12 are a significant distance from these areas, presenting a possible obstacle for older adults who cannot vote on November 15. This is of particular concern for older adults with physical disabilities and/or those who must rely on public transit.
We relayed these concerns in a letter sent to the Election Office. In response, the Chief Election Officer, Janice MacKenzie, has issued the following statement:
During the past few days, I have heard continuing concerns regarding advance voting opportunities, particularly in the Downtown Eastside. As Chief Election Officer, I am committed to the availability of voting opportunities in the city and providing electors with broad opportunities to cast their ballot at a convenient time.
In 2011 there were five advance polls:
- City Hall
- Dunbar Community Centre
- Sunset Community Centre
- West-End Community Centre, and,
- Renfrew Community Centre.
The City Hall poll was open for eight days and the remaining four polls were open on four days. In total there was 272 hours of advance voting in 2011.
While there was increased use of advance voting in 2011, we have expanded advance voting even further in 2014 to eight full days in eight locations from 8 am to 8 pm, between November 4-15 and 15 at these locations:
- West End Community Centre
- Roundhouse Community Centre
- Thunderbird Community Centre
- Sunset Community Centre
- Killarney Community Centre
- Kitsilano Community Centre
- Kerrisdale Community Centre
- City Hall
We are pleased to be able to offer 768 hours of advance voting in 2014. This is a 280 percent increase over the 2011 election and a 320 percent increase over 2008. This advance voting provides voters with a consistent and predictable schedule over eight days so they can plan the best time to cast their ballot.
The eight advance voting locations have been confirmed, and for a number of reasons no additional locations can be added for the 2014 municipal election.
Advance voting location sites require specific and significant physical space – beyond what is required for a federal or provincial election. Sites also need to be on or close to transit, fully accessible to persons with disabilities, and offer sufficient parking.
Municipal voting locations typically offer 32 voting booths because of the number of voters on site and the time it can take to complete our lengthy municipal ballot. In 2014, municipal voters will pick up to 27 candidates from a list of 119 who are contesting this year’s election. Electors will also vote for the Capital Plan borrowing questions. By way of comparison, voters in federal and provincial elections chose one candidate on a ballot listing about half a dozen candidates. Federal and provincial elections typically only require up to six voting booths, depending on the location. Once voting is complete a municipal ballot is immediately fed into an electronic vote tabulator that records the votes, allowing much faster and easier processing of the ballots. In contrast, a provincial or federal ballot is placed in a simple cardboard box and votes are hand-counted.
When selecting locations for municipal voting, officials require sufficient space to accommodate about 1,000 electors on each day of advance voting, and between 1,200 and 1,500 voters on general voting day. The location requires extensive electrical outlets and back-up power to maintain connectivity for all of the equipment due to the electronic needs of electronic voting tabulators, accessible voting machines, the electronic voters list and other requirements. Fully secure internet is a key requirement.
These are some of the many important steps we take to ensure our voting places and all of the equipment is ready to receive voters come the start of voting on November 4.
For all the above reasons, the eight advance voting places for Election 2014 were secured over one year ago. This timeframe also allowed time for the host location’s normal programming activities to be planned around reduced space during the eight day advance voting period in November.
Advance voting is an important strategy to enable voter participation. Over the last two election cycles, the City has worked to enhance the availability of opportunities to vote in advance of an election through incremental increases in advance polls, and we continue to work to ensure that everyone has access to voting opportunities.
In addition to advance voting locations and voting places on Election Day, anyone who has a physical disability, illness or injury that affects their ability to vote at another voting opportunity or expects to be out of the city during the voting period can vote by mail.
City election staff have been working closely with DTES community partners to distribute election materials about voting times, locations, how to register and how to apply for a mail-in ballot if eligible. Election staff participated to two Homeless Action Week events, we have, with a Union Gospel Mission representative, visited 46 service agencies and business in the neighbourhood to drop off election information materials and election staff are continuing to meet with service and other agencies and attend events in the community to share election posters, stickers, postcards and buttons.
Voting is integral to our democracy and as the Chief Elections Officer, I urge community agencies throughout the city to reach out to voters and community members who might need assistance getting to a voting location. Some service agencies have vans and planned outings while others have volunteer drivers and personal contact with clients who might need help to get out to vote.
The Roundhouse Community Centre is the closest advance voting location to the Downtown Eastside and is about 2.5 kilometres from the heart of the community. Agencies who have transportation services for clients and community members are invited to call the City of Vancouver’s Election Office to arrange a reserved parking at the Roundhouse location or any other advance voting site.
We have taken many steps this year to make voting easy and convenient – our 8-8-8 advance voting program (locations, days and hours) plus vote anywhere at nearly 120 locations around the city, including six in or immediately adjacent to the Downtown Eastside.
We encourage voters to participate in any of the 2014 voting opportunities and particularly welcome voters to advance voting between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on November 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 at any one of these locations:
- West End Community Centre – 870 Denman St.
- Roundhouse Community Centre – 181 Roundhouse Mews
- Thunderbird Community Centre – 2311 Cassiar St.
- Sunset Community Centre – 6810 Main St.
- Killarney Community Centre – 6260 Killarney St.
- Kitsilano Community Centre – 2690 Larch St.
- Kerrisdale Community Centre – 5851 West Blvd.
- City Hall – 453 West 12th Ave.
It is very gratifying to see the interest in advance voting for the 2014 election. We anticipate seeing an increase in voting both during the advance voting period and on advance voting day.
Janice MacKenzie
Chief Election Officer
