There’s never been a better time to have your say in who will be running the country for the foreseeable future. With a few easy steps and a bit of planning, even the most transient of Sun Peaks’ residents can cast their ballots on or before October 19.
“If you’re a Canadian citizen and you’re 18 years of age or over on the day you’re voting, there should be ways to get you to vote. It’s just a question of being prepared,” said Dorothy Sitek, B.C. media contact for Elections Canada.
“The important thing is to plan ahead. Register ahead of time if you can, look at what your ID options are, look through your files to see what correspondence will work to prove an address or see if you can get a letter confirmation of residence.”
Voters can register online before 6 p.m. on October 13 on www.elections.ca. This is the best way to ensure a smooth experience at the ballot box. Unlike a provincial election, in a federal election voters are assigned a polling station which makes registration a must. If your address is a PO Box, as many Sun Peaks residents must use, you can register and vote using that ID and address. It just takes a few more clicks on the website.
Voters can also register in person at the local Elections Canada office in Kamloops with proof of name and address.
To vote, bring your voting card, plus the required ID and documents to prove your identity and address to the assigned polling station. If your voter registration card hasn’t arrived via mail in time, look up your assigned polling station online using the postal code.
If registering ahead of time isn’t an option, voters can register on election day at their region’s polling station with the accepted ID — it will simply take longer to be processed.
Option one is to show a government ID card with photo, name and current address. Another option is to show two pieces of ID and at least one must have your current address. The second piece includes documents such as a cell phone bill or bank statement, which can be shown from your mobile device. A complete list of accepted ID can be found online.
Finally, if you have no way to prove your current address there is one more option to vote on election day. Show up at the correct polling station with two pieces of ID and a friend who lives in your area and who has the correct ID. This person can then attest to your home address and you take an oath to vote.
New this year, Elections Canada is running a pilot project to help youth and students or anyone else who is temporality away from their home riding. They will be opening an office at the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society from Monday, October 5 to Thursday, October 8. Here you can register, vote in advance and get information.
“Basically, it’s acting a temporary returning station,” said Sitek. “It’s voting by special ballot so people need to know what riding they’re in and who they’re voting for as they don’t get a list. They must write it in by hand.”
If you’re busy on election day, you can vote in advance from Friday, October 9 to Monday, October 12 at the polling station. Another option is to vote by mail which may work for those who travel a lot. You need to apply online or in person by Tuesday, October 13 to cast your ballot by mail.
Sitek recommends getting in touch with the local returning office for anyone running into issues or having trouble choosing the best way to vote. Nancy Plett in Kamloops can be reached at 1-866-545-0619 at her office located at 1201 Summit Drive West.
Sun Peaks polling station will be located in the Sun Peaks Grand on October 19th.
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