I infer from Monday's report of the election results that 76 ballots were cast by mail. My ballot was one of them, although it very nearly was not.
Since I was going to be away from Prince George for several weeks including election day and the dates of the advanced polls, I applied for a mail ballot package. Having not received it by Wednesday 12 November, I queried Deanna Wasnik (Deputy Chief Elections Officer) to whom the request had originally been sent, about when I might expect to receive it. In her reply, she indicated that it had been mailed on 31 October 2014.
I received my ballot on the morning of 13 November. It had been postmarked 3 November 2014. I promptly completed it and then tried to send it from Toronto to Prince George by the most expeditious means possible. By 10 am, I had been informed by the courier companies that I had contacted and by Canada Post that the earliest that delivery could be guaranteed was the following Monday.
At this point, I contacted Walter Babicz, Chief Elections Officer, for advice on how to get my ballot to Prince George. He was able to identify a service that could deliver from Vancouver to Prince George if I could get a courier from Toronto to deliver to that service in Vancouver. The first courier I contacted on this matter refused. Although they offered a service that would deliver to Vancouver in time, they indicated that they were not prepared to deliver to a competitor. Instead they offered an "executive" service that would deliver my ballot to Prince George for nearly $600, a far cry from the $1.80 that it would have cost me to mail my ballot had it been received in a timely fashion.
I did not give up. I identified the courier to Mr. Babicz who contacted them. In the meantime, I tried another courier. As I was explaining the situation, this courier told me that they could get my ballot to Prince George by 8 pm on Friday. By 3:30 pm Thursday, 13 November, my "mail" ballot was finally on its way to Prince George.
I also contacted Elections BC about this. They indicated that the running of the election was up to the Chief Returning Officer in each local government. Mr. Babicz indicated to me that the sending of the mail ballots was constrained by timelines set out by Elections BC. The total time period available for the sending and return of mail ballots worked out to 15 days. These timelines need to be revised in the context of the current realities of mail delivery by Canada Post. For some years now, mail posted after the Friday afternoon cutoff does not move from Prince George until the following Monday. Early November includes Remembrance Day, a statutory holiday. Ten days is not unusual for mail to reach its destination within Canada.
In elections for higher levels of government, I have voted by mail previously from outside Canada and found that there was more than enough time for my ballot to be mailed back. Elections BC should take note that other Canadian jurisdictions have established effective timelines for mail ballots.
In the end, it cost me nearly 35 times what the cost would have been had there been time to mail my "mail" ballot. I am fortunate enough to be in the position that I could afford to spend the money and the several hours it took in the effort to cast my ballot, but I cannot help but think of others who might not have these choices.
How many mail ballots were requested and not returned? Why?
Margot Mandy
Prince George
