By Carlen Lavigne
This year’s municipal elections have a new electronic voting system, but fewer polling stations.
Many highrise apartment buildings are losing their voting booths, causing problems for seniors and the disabled.
The new technology means that each polling station can handle more people. So, there will be only 111 polling stations on Nov. 10, compared with 300 in 1994. People who voted in the lobbies of their buildings now have to vote elsewhere.
McIntyre, head of the Tenants Federation, says that closing the apartment polling stations “removes the democratic process for the elderly and disabled.”
“They used to be able to vote from their lobbies. Now it will be harder, particularly if there’s a snow storm.”
Florence MacNeil, 75, of the Senior Citizens Council, says her apartment building has many seniors, but they no longer have a polling station.
“We always used to vote in the lobby. The new station is way down the street, and we don’t know if there’s parking or anything.”
Elections official Cathy Blacksays they are aware of the problem. “We know it’s a concern for seniors, so we’ve upped the number of advance polls this year.”
The government will hold 120 advance polls, compared with only 10 in 1994.
Black says the government is doing its best to accommodate less mobile voters.
But McIntyre is skeptical. “More is better in terms of polls, because it should be a matter of convenience. It can’t help and it may hurt voting turnout.”