Advance polls are open (federal)
I voted Saturday in an advance poll, and you should know that the advance polls are also open Sunday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Information about your advance poll is printed on the back of the election card you should have received.
Saturday, I was the only voter in the place, and the bored poll workers all perked up when I sashayed in.
I mostly chose to go this weekend because my advance poll is in a more accessible location than the main one, held in the sprawling brutalist high school around the corner, which has about a dozen doors to the street but no main entrance, and you always have to walk around the whole building puzzling out how to get inside.
Yes, there were plexiglas barriers, individual pencils, and much hand sanitizing. I’m all for effective pandemic measures, but don’t we understand by now that vaccination, masks and distancing are effective, whereas sanitizing hands is virtually pointless?
Adding later: The last time I trained to work in an election, about four years ago, they spent quite a lot of time on the rules concerning women in niqab. If I recall correctly, we were to have a woman scrutineer take the voter aside and verify her identity with a quick peek. But it never came up. Not a single voter came in wearing niqab.
When I voted yesterday they didn’t even ask me to lift my Covid mask to check my face against my ID.
Chris 12:26 on 2021-09-12 Permalink
>don’t we understand by now that […] sanitizing hands is virtually pointless
Unfortunately, we do not. It’s become part of the culture war. If you don’t support doing absolutely every conceivable thing possible to reduce covid risk to absolute zero, you are an anti-vax trump supporting troglodyte.
I went to a resto last week where you can sit maskless (even before/after eating), but they no longer provide physical menus (“because covid”). As if touching a shared menu is anywhere near as risky as breathing next to someone without a mask. (Neither of which are very risky, but one more than the other.)
PS: you’re allowed to bring your own pencil to vote!
jeather 13:20 on 2021-09-12 Permalink
Yeah, I have gone to a restaurant where you’re allowed to be not wearing a mask once you’re seated. I walked into one restaurant where they just — don’t check the vaccine passport. But I can’t find anywhere to make a complaint/report like there was for people breaking quarantine/max people rules in the past.
Tee Owe 13:50 on 2021-09-12 Permalink
I voted by mail already. Would prefer to have some acknowledgement that it was/will be received by deadline but I don’t see that as part of the deal
MarcG 14:53 on 2021-09-12 Permalink
TO: Does this help? : https://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=faq&document=faqvbm&lang=e#faq9a
YUL514 22:44 on 2021-09-12 Permalink
I voted today, there were three different polling stations, each one split (A-M) and (N-Z) and of course I was in the only one with the long lineup. My wife got out about 10 minutes earlier as she fell in the other name bracket. I had to wait about 25 minutes while people were being escorted past the line to the other polling stations. Seems that only (A-M) from our polling station came out to vote today. 🙂
Tee Owe 01:36 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
Thanks MarcG – it didn’t work for me, I think the online option is more to check whether you’re registered. But there is a phone number, I’ll call and see what’s possible.
Ephraim 07:25 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
I’m sorry, but so many people had gross hands before… the majority of men walked out of public bathrooms without washing their hands… just gross. And because of that, Norwalk virus was everywhere…. shopping malls, old age homes and the cinema. I really appreciate having people wash their hands more, though the sanitizing only kills about 50% of Norwalk. But I also find the ritual sort of calms my nerves as well. And seeing others doing it means that they care about others, even if it’s not of major concern. It’s nice to see that we participate in a ritual that shows societal value and concern, if nothing else.
Tim S. 09:48 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
Yeah, I’m with Ephraim on this. I’ve enjoyed being gastro-free for a couple of years.
MarcG 09:53 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
TO: I’m curious to hear the results of your call. I’m hoping that using the 9-digit/last-name thing I linked to will update from “Voting kit sent” to “Vote received” once they’ve got mine.
Kate 10:30 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
OK, granted on the hand thing. I’m not prone to gastro so I hadn’t thought about that. I would just ask people not to put out scented hand sanitizer, because I so dislike having my hands smell of cheap perfume.
But unless I’ve misunderstood things, hand sanitizing is not much use against Covid.
Kevin 11:05 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
@YUL514
A-M may be half the alphabet, but it’s much more than half of the population.
Last year at one of my kids’ schools they were going to split up the grade A-M and N-Z — then their medical advisor asked them to count if that was actually an even split.
They ended up going A-K and L-Z.
YUL514 15:06 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
@Kevin, I’m sure that’s the case but there was also the case of the other polling stations having no line ups regardless of last name. I don’t know if they split polling stations by population but it’s possible my polling number has a higher number of residents.
jeather 15:48 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
IME polling stations are split by number of voters though they don’t usually split up a block, most polling stations I have worked at have had 400-500 eligible voters, including those who voted in advance etc. Not sure why they split by alphabet though.
Kate 18:53 on 2021-09-13 Permalink
I’ve never seen the alphabet thing done. Always I’ve shown my card to someone at the door, who checks the poll division number then directs me to the correct table.
Tee Owe 01:56 on 2021-09-14 Permalink
MarcG: The phone number is a recording, bit tedious, but gave an email , I had a reply overnight, ballot not received yet but there’s time still. Thanks again for the link.
MarcG 15:48 on 2021-09-17 Permalink
TO: You’ll probably never read this but I just checked the web service again and the “additional info” field does update from “Voting kit sent” to “Completed Ballot received” once it’s been processed. They could work on the messaging to make it more obvious that this is indeed the way to check.