Advance voting began Thursday morning in North Bay’s first fully online election. But some residents say they are concerned after they were mailed voter information cards that don’t belong to them. Linda Fuller said when she checked her mailbox last week, she found four online ballots inside. “One was for my husband and three were for … people that I’ve never heard of,” Fuller said, showing the voting letters to CTV News. “Even though we’ve owned this property for over eight years.” Ironically, Fuller said she didn’t receive her own ballot. She’s not the only person dealing with this issue. Several other residents have received more than one voting card in the mail, including Carol Couture. “We got four voting cards,” Couture said. “One was for me, one for my husband, one for somebody who hasn’t lived here for over 20 years and currently lives in the U.S., and one for my late sister-in-law who died Aug. 24 ... Somebody is not updating the database.” In an email Thursday, the City of North Bay said that outdated information on voters’ lists is not unusual and has occurred in past municipal elections. “The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation previously maintained the voters list for municipal elections,” said city spokesman Gord Young. “That responsibility has since transferred to the province and Elections Ontario now provides the list to the city.” While the city reviews and updates the voter registration list, Young said some outdated information may remain, including the names of people who have moved or died. Kevin Ferris received two voting cards in the mail: his and the previous owner of his house that hasn’t lived there since 2009. “I think the voter roll could be quite off for this election,” Ferris said. Voter information letters are intended only for the person named on the letter. Residents should not open mail addressed to someone else or attempt to use another person’s PIN to vote. Voting on behalf of another person or voting more than once is an offence under the Municipal Elections Act. But Ferris said it would be easy to vote for someone else. “It seems that if you have a PIN and a date of birth, that you should be able to proceed to vote online,” Ferris said. “If somebody wanted to use somebody else’s ballot, it doesn’t seem very complicated.” People can cast a ballot using their computer, tablet or smartphone. But voting online doesn’t mean residents have to vote from home. During the advance voting period now until Oct. 26, computers and election staff will be available at city hall on McIntyre Street to help residents with voting. The city said the online voting system includes safeguards to help protect the integrity of the vote, including a security question that voters must answer as part of verification. On election day Oct. 26, help will be available at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens and WFCU Place, with computers and election staff available. The city is using a private online election company called ‘Voatz,’ which many municipalities will be using to count the online ballots. There will still be a short grace period after the 8 p.m. deadline on Oct. 26. Anyone who receives a voter information letter that’s not theirs should report it to the clerk’s department at city hall. Fuller said he fully intends to do that, while at the same she wants to try and learn more information on where her ballot is. “I don’t know where they’re getting these names from,” she said. “But I really think that it should be looked into before any of this carries on.”
