Some Lower Mainland seniors unable to vote by phone due to early close time
Posted October 24, 2020 7:49 pm.
Last Updated October 24, 2020 8:41 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — An early closing time has apparently stopped a group of seniors from casting their vote by phone in B.C.’s election.
One caller to NEWS 1130 explains she had been trying to help about a dozen seniors vote at the care home she works at in the Lower Mainland since the polls opened Saturday.
But she says the system was too busy, and then they ran out of time when it shut off at 4 p.m.
“If that system had been open until 8 o’clock tonight when the polls closed, we would have made sure that everybody in our seniors home was able to vote,” she says. “As it turned out, it was taking a long time.”
She worries if the care home was cut off from voting, others in the province might have run into the same issue.
“The problem with that is, that there are an awful lot of people, probably, besides the seniors that I work with, did not get the opportunity to vote,” she says.
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She argues the people who need assistance voting deserved the maximum amount of time to cast their vote, especially during the pandemic.
“I think it’s just a crying shame. They’ve had so many things taken from them this year. They can’t visit with their family, they can’t do the activities that we used to do, they can’t even get together in the dining rooms, and now they can’t even vote.”
Other voters heading to the polls in person told NEWS 1130 the experience was quick and simple.
Polls in B.C. were set to close at 8 p.m., including by phone, according to Elections BC.
