Miscommunication blamed for some Manitoba inmates being unable to vote: report

An election sign is seen outside a polling station in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019. A report from Manitoba's elections commissioner says roughly half of the inmates at a jail west of Winnipeg did not get the chance to vote in the last provincial election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — Roughly half of the inmates at a jail west of Winnipeg couldn't vote in the last provincial election due to a series of events that included miscommunication among election workers, a report from Manitoba's elections commissioner says.

"Our investigation has been unable to pinpoint precisely where these breakdowns (in communication) occurred, but whatever the precise causes, it is clear that any mistakes made were entirely accidental and that everyone involved was working hard throughout the day to ensure that voting went smoothly," Bill Bowles wrote in his report on events at Headingley Correctional Centre on Oct. 3, 2023.

The series of errors appears to have started before voting began that day. Elections Manitoba determined that two two-person teams should be sent to the jail to process ballots, but only one team ended up going, the report says.

The team had to go back to the returning office to retrieve an item, faced an early winter storm on the drive back to the jail, then faced more trouble when they set up.

"Once they were back at H.C.C., they had some initial difficulty in getting their equipment running," Bowles wrote.

Polls close at 8 p.m. on election day, but polling stations are told to remain open until people who are already in line cast ballots. Somehow, the report states, the election workers at Headingley believed they had to pack up and get everything back to the returning office by 9 p.m.

"They do not remember who told them that and no one we have spoken with remembers telling them that," Bowles wrote.

The early departure can be especially problematic in a correctional facility as, for security reasons, inmates are not let out of their cells at their leisure to line up and vote.

Bowles said what happened at the jail was unfortunate and accidental, and Elections Manitoba has already begun working on changes. Bowles is not recommending anyone be charged under the Elections Act.

In a letter attached to the report, Elections Manitoba said it is working to ensure procedures are clear.

"A second team of voting officials will be deployed at Headingley in the next election if conditions there remain substantially unchanged," wrote Elections Manitoba chief executive Shipra Verma.

"We will also take steps to ensure that polls will remain open until all inmates who are eligible to vote and who wish to vote will be able to do so."

The agency is also promising to reinforce training for voting officers.

Bowles estimated there were likely close to 200 people left to vote when the poll at the jail closed, and his report indicates the missing votes would not have affected the outcome of the election, which saw the NDP win a majority of legislature seats and oust the Progressive Conservatives from office.

Inmates cast ballots for their home constituency, if they plan to return there after being released.

Progressive Conservative Kathleen Cook won the Roblin constituency, which includes the jail, by more than 1,100 votes.

"As for the other electoral districts in the province, the number of extra votes would likely have been less that 10 in any district and no district had a plurality anywhere near that small," Bowles wrote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press