Mail-in ballot didn’t arrive? Canadian voters still have options on election day

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Canadians who applied to vote by mail in Monday’s federal election but haven’t received their ballot yet still have options to have their voice heard.

Jeff and his wife Chris applied for their mail-in ballots on Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 respectively, but by Friday, their mailbox was empty. Their daughter also applied to vote by mail, but hadn’t seen the envelope arrive.

“I made as much effort as I could to get the ballots. I gave them tons of options. I said courier them, we’ll pay, whatever. Just get us our ballots so we can exercise our rights,” Jeff said. “And I’m sure there’s a lot of other people who are saying the same story.”

The first step anyone should take, according to Andrea Marantz with Elections Canada, is to go online and check the status of their application. Whether their application has been approved or not, if a ballot has not arrived by Monday, Canadians can go vote in person at their assigned polling station.

“They’re still on the voter list, and they can vote in person on Monday at their polling place,” Marantz said. “They’ll have to sign an oath that they did not receive (their mail-in ballot), and then they will be allowed to vote.”

Elections Canada will then cross-check all mail-in ballots against voter lists to make sure no one voted twice. Each mail-in ballot application has a number that corresponds to a voter’s name.

“We cross-check those before we open the ballots and then the ballots are kind of stirred up so we don’t know who the person voted for, but we do know, if they voted twice,” Marantz said.

She recommends voters who don’t receive their ballot call their local returning office so staff there can let the polling station know someone will require the paperwork to sign the oath.

Related articles

Under the Canada Elections Act, the deadline for all alternative methods of voting, including mail-in, was Sept. 14. People who couldn’t make it to their assigned polling station on Sept. 20 could vote in any returning office as a national elector, using a special ballot kit and writing in the name of their candidate of choice who is running in their home Electoral District until Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.

Unfortunately, Jeff and Chris have since left their home province and Marantz says they may not be able to vote this time.

“It’s probably the first election we’ve missed since we were 18,” Jeff said.

Elections Canada is expecting a surge in mail-in voting for Monday’s federal election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Polls will be open for 12 hours on Sept. 20. Check your local region to find out which times stations are open.

Mail-in ballots can also be submitted at local polling stations. If you’re voting with a mail-in ballot from outside your riding you will need to mail your completed kit to the address on the return mailing envelope. Elections Canada must receive the marked ballot by no later than Monday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. PT.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today