Some residents of Glendale say they aren’t going to vote now that the closest polling station is an approximate 40 km round-trip from the community.
People only realized their usual polling station had been changed when voter information cards came out last week, says community member, Sandy Boyd.
“I’m hearing a lot of [locals] saying, ‘well we’re simply just not going to vote’; ‘were not going to travel over 40 kilometres to go vote’,” Boyd says.
Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Inverness, Allan MacMaster, says people in Glendale should be able to vote in the community, as they always have.
“At a time when voter turnout is always a challenge, we should be making it easier, not harder, to vote,” MacMaster says. “Forcing the people of Glendale and surrounding areas to travel 20 kilometres each way to cast their ballot will only discourage voter turnout.”
The polling district is located along 26 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway, through numerous small communities.
In the past, polling stations have typically been located about one-third and two-thirds of the way along the stretch, in Glendale and Blues Mills. This election, there’s a single polling site located at L’arche Cape Breton site in Iron Mines, at the far north end of the district.
Community members sent a formal letter to Elections Nova Scotia last week; they’ve yet to hear back.
Many of the area residents travel to work, school and shopping in the opposite direction which makes the additional 40 km round trip too much on election day, Boyd says.
Because the polling station has been moved to L’arche, which is a government sponsored agency, Boyd says, the community halls which would normally house the polling stations will also lose out on rental fees they desperately need.
“For the next election and the upcoming elections, we want our poll in Glendale,” Boyd says. “It’s been there since decades and just to come in and close it without any consultation with the community, it doesn’t seem right.”
The Hawk’s news team reached out to Elections Nova Scotia for comment. Policy and Communications Director for Election Nova Scotia, Naomi Shelton, said in an email statement the returning officer for the area inspected three locations to serve the polling division, using Elections Nova Scotia guidelines.
“The locations in Glendale and Blue Mills did not meet all the criteria (wheelchair ramp & door weather stripping heights) as well as entrances and spacing related to COVID-19 protocols. The returning officer indicated that the L’Arche location, which is a newer building had better entrance and exit locations for good in and out flow to meet COVID-19 protocols and that it also met all our accessibility requirements.”
