Certain off-campus students didn’t have the time to vote in the provincial election because they were mistakenly informed they could vote on campus. Fourth-year history student Wyatt Danowski said he was turned away from voting at on-campus polling stations Oct. 6 because he didn’t live in residence.
Danowski said he was surprised when told he couldn’t cast his ballot in Fenn Lounge.
“[The poll clerks] told us that a majority of people had made the same mistake [as me],” he said. “They had a list of people who were filing complaints to Elections Ontario about it.”
Advance polls on campus were open to all students living in the Ottawa Centre riding since no one is directed to a specific advance poll, according to Elections Canada, but on election day, it was just for students in residence.
“It’s just how we deliver the election,” said Alicia Fowlie, communications coordinator for Elections Ontario. “We only have 500-700 voters at each poll so they can be processed in a quick and efficient matter. It keeps it manageable.”
Fowlie said she hadn’t heard of any confusion. This system wasn’t made clear to students, Danowski said.
“[When I went to the poll], it didn’t say anywhere that it was only for [residence] students . . . it wasn’t advertised at all,” he said.
When he walked up and told the poll clerks he lived in Ottawa Centre, Danowski said one of them thought it was the name of a residence building.
“They couldn’t tell me why the polling station was only for residence students,” he said. “I asked them if there was another polling station at Carleton for off-campus students, and they said they didn’t know.”
Students were well-informed about the polling stations, according to Chantle Beeso, the vice-president (student issues) for the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
“I was out there everyday letting students know that on election day [the poll] was only for residence students,” Beeso said. “Maybe some students [didn’t know], but that just comes with some people . . . it happens in every case.”
The polls were highly publicized, Fowlie said. But according to Danowski, the publicity only made things worse.
“The whyicantvote.ca posters didn’t make me want to vote, [instead] it just made it seem really complicated,” he said. “I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or to help me find out where to vote. There was no formal poster just clearly telling me the info I needed.”
CUSA posters were still visible election day, advertising “Live on or near campus? Vote here: Frontenace 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.”
However, Beeso said these were generic posters meant for advance polling.
“It’s our front desk people who put out the posters,” she said. “They could have put out a blank one [that didn’t specify it was an advance poll],” she said, adding “it may have confused students.”
Although Danowski said he was unable to vote in the end because class and work left him no time to find an off-campus poll, Beeso said a record number of students cast a ballot.
Forty-five per cent of residence students turned out on election day, she said, and over 500 students attended advance polls, which were offered for the first time.
