Voting information card deliveries delayed in Tumbler Ridge

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — Tumbler Ridge voters may experience a delay in receiving their district’s voter cards for the upcoming federal election due to information errors. 

On April 22nd, posts on social media suggested some people in Tumbler Ridge had not yet received their voting cards.

“On our local social media page, there’s been quite a few people who have indicated that they didn’t receive their household cards from Elections Canada,” said Dwayne Fry, a Tumbler Ridge resident who has not yet received his voting information card.

James Hale, media representative for Elections Canada, confirmed the voter cards for the upcoming federal election were reissued due to incorrect information regarding polling places. 

“We were aware of those circumstances and efforts were made very quickly to ameliorate them,” said Hale.

Hale said the voter cards should be delivered by an unspecified time this week. 

Hale encouraged voters to visit Elections Canada’s website for more information about voting procedures and available voting locations.

“It’s a great system, is it a perfect system? No, there’s still some occasional flaws in it, but those are corrected as quickly as possible when they’re discovered,” said Hale. 

He also assured residents voter cards are not needed to vote. 

“Lots of people put them aside or lose them or forget them,” Hale explained. 

“You just have to identify yourself to the poll clerk; it will take a few seconds longer to identify which station you have to go to.”

Fry raised concerns on social media and said he was relieved to find out he was still able to vote without his voting card. 

“I found out through local citizens that we could go ahead and vote without it, which was good that I found that out, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gone and voted without my card,” said Fry. 

According to the Elections Canada website, barriers prevent a single person from voting twice, and anyone who may receive a second voter information card should contact their local elections office. 

Hale further explained that after someone has voted, their name is taken off voter registration and any attempt to vote a second time, or as a non-citizen, is breaking the law and faces harsh penalties. 

“Electoral fraud in Canada is very, very low, there are very few instances of it because you could be challenged at any time,” said Hale.

“The voter information card, it’s just a piece of information, not a piece of ID,” Hale concluded. 

Energeticcity.ca reached out to the District of Tumbler Ridge but did not receive an immediate response before publication.