How was your voting experience?

Was it easy to vote? Was there a lineup and a wait? Was your polling station efficiently managed? Share your experience with  other voters. Who you voted for is your business, but feel free to share that, too, if you like.

Comments

[jeremy]

Was the second one there in the morning, so guess they were still working out some kinks. First table told us to proceed to A-L or M-Z table. M-Z table said to go to first table first. Did they not plan this first?

The lady before me had to re-vote because the machine wouldn't eat her ballot.

[T. Watson]

Working at the polling station I found at least 50 people came to the wrong polling station. The voting cards need some work so people can tell the diffence between the advance polling station and the one they are to use on voting day.

[M.P.Elliott]

Ward 9 Mt. Albion Public School. Bit of a hassle, though to be fair the problem lay with the advance poll at Valley Park. I was listed as having already voted, although that person was my mother, right above me on the list. She had to take a taxi, present ID and swear an oath that she had been the one who previously voted, not me. If we had lived further away, I would have been more upset. My mother is disabled, which was why she voted in the advance polls in the first place. It seemed that out of 12 or 15 employed people there, only one of them really had any idea what to do with that situation. Oh well at least I got to vote. Things on this comment page would look quite different if I wasn't able.

[Catherine Burden]

Voting was very easy in Ward 7 at the senior's centre on Upper Wentworth. Though I am suprised that no one stopped my husband and I from chatting while we were casting our ballots.

[Bard]

Voting this time was really bad. Ward 10 at a school on Dewit road. Waited in one line for 20 minutes, the next line for 45 minutes.
An hour wait is not so bad but there were only 30 people in the school.
The other problem was the initialled ballot. Instead of initialing a ballot upon alotment, the volunteers initialled a huge stack before voters arrived. Defeats the whole purpose when a stack of initialled ballots are left on empty tables.

[C. Braun]

We voted at Earl Kitchener school in Ward 1 (630 pm)where we have voted previously with no problems...BUT this time there was a very long wait and the whole process was disorganized. People were told to line up "by the wall" and there was mass confusion over which line started and ended where. No one really minds a bit of a wait, but when disorganization and confusion are added to that, it makes for an unpleasant and almost chaotic experience.

[Peter Swire, CMA]

I went to the polling station about noon hour. It was around the corner from me and not crowded at all.

I did have a major problem.

The tabulating machines could not read the top of the ballot so my first ballot had to be returned. A second ballot was issued to me and again the machine had a problem.

In both cases, no error message came up.

So, a third ballot was issued to me and finally it worked.

The staff was very pleased.
We all kept our good social graces and humour.
We shook hands as the system finally worked.

We can all make the experience what we want to. The staff had no control over the technology and could not be critisized for its shortcomings.

Perhaps, we should go back to a pencil, an X in the box and manual counting!

[norm murray]

Voting was easy however I question the accuracy of the voters list given the card we received in the mail contained names of two people who haven't lived at our home for 11 and 9 years. How is the voter's list in Hamilton created and how often is it updated?

[robbie]

They wouldn't accept my ID as my license and health cards were in the process of renewal. They did allow my bank statement as ID. Like it proves anything.

[John Welton]

I voted in Ward 1. The staff were either un-trained or not interested. They preferred to talk to each other rather than assisting voters. No wonder many people choose not to vote.

[Sandy Sandboxes]

In case anyone is wondering, I'm in Ward 7 and I voted at Eastmount Public School on East 26th Street early in the evening.

[hp]

I'm in Dundas and I thought the distance between my apartment and the polling station was a bit ridiculous. It took me nearly 20 minutes to walk there, and it was really difficult to find (Dundas Valley Montessori School).I'm young, so it was no big deal really, but I can't help but wonder how this would effect the elderly or disabled. Anywhere else I've lived, the polling station has been no more than 5 minutes away.

Once I was there, there was no line up. I was registered very quickly and able to vote right away.

[ed]

The staff were all moaning they didn't get a proper lunch break and those silly cardboard box shelters are embarrassing. Bring on online voting, the turnout again is ridiculously low. It proves we're a bunch of whinners but not prepared to do anything about it. With just about all the incumbents back we deserve everything we get. BUT!! it was all worth it to see Dianinini get tanked yet again, I told you Larry to go away 5yrs ago, I guess now he finally gets it, so long for good Larry baby!!! Congrats to Bratina, now rein in spending on lawyers, consultants, glad handing and silly committees for friends. Too many politicians are quick to say they'll have to cut services to hold the line on taxes proving their friends are still more important than us.

[Todd]

I voted in Ward 5 and the line moved quite well. I was very shocked that the Election Officers did NOT ask me for my ID !! So much for making things more secure! As for the results, I was extremely disappointed in the result of most of the past Councillors returning to City Hall. It left me with the bitter feeling that my vote didn't really count. I'm not suggesting that I won't vote anymore, but it still leaves me with that very discouraging feeling. It's unfortunate that not enough voters out there would give the Councillor challengers a fair crack at it. I can only hope that Mayor-Elect Bratina will be able to find a "happy-medium" with this crew of self-serving Councillors and be able to move forward in a more fiscally responsible fashion. I'm very happy for Bob Bratina and I hope that things really work out well for him.

[Jeff]

I did not vote cause I was new to the area Ward 4. And could not find any information on my new polling station.

[Stench]

The line moved quickly and workers were pleasant. I was very disappointed to see a AccuVote scanner though. They are not reliable. (See the problems in the US with those)Electronic machines have no place in our elections. Ever. Is a hand count done on a percentage of ballots to make sure the machines are working properly? What is the procedure if the power goes down? How do you know for SURE your vote was counted?
Back to Paper Ballots, Hand counted by Humans ONLY, before we are facing the fiasco like the US is.

[N. Clark]

I voted at St. Brigid's school (Ward 3)yesterday afternoon. I was not on the voter's list because I just moved here last year. I showed my drivers license and filled out the necessary form at the first desk, then took it to the second desk.

The woman there insisted on looking for my name on her list - despite me handing her the form and telling her - more than once - that I was not on the list. There was a man sitting beside her that told me he was there to keep her company. He continued talking to me - telling me he used to go to that school, who his fave teacher was, did I live in the area, etc. Then she was asking me if I was private or Catholic, how many kids I had, and whether or not they went to public or Catholic school. I answered right away that I was public, then answered again to say I have no children, and then again to confirm that I was public. She said she had to know - not sure why my first answer wasn't sufficient. Finally the woman realized I was not on the list and let me go vote.

Should the volunteers not be clear on the protocol? Is it acceptable to have people just hanging around to keep them company?

It won't stop me from voting but it just makes me shake my head. And no, there was no lineup - if there was, I would've been the one holding up the line answering the same questions over and over!

[Rico]

A very poor experience! Embarrassing in this day and age; made me wonder if it was a ploy to discourage voter participation. Leaving the line was commonly voiced by voters forced to wait.

Ward 12 was mishandled and inefficient plagued by a slow and long line.

- voter registration card was not received for long time resident with steady address

- on-site confusion between informal lines of those with and without voter registration cards

- registration assistant would not accept my Ontario Health card as valid ID despite it being the second item listed on the instructional poster. I provided Ontario Driver's license rather than argue the point.

- tried to fit far too many people into an undersized room.

- people in charge of lesser-used surname groups (ie. letter Z in the alphabet) twiddling their thumbs while lines developed at popular stations, leading to an inability to process the last minute rush, in turn leading to potentially turned-away voters while the doors are promptly closed at 8pm.

[Sandy Sandboxes]

It was good...very courteous election people. The entire process took less than 10 minutes. My only concern was that the polling booths were placed side by side and did not offer much privacy in that when you were finished and were going past the guy next to you to get to the ballot box, you had to avert your eyes so as not to see who he was voting for.

[Michael and Carol Newhouse]

Voting today was a disaster! The poll workers had no clue where to find our names, then our names could not be found at all(same address since 1975-they have no trouble sending us our tax bill!). Finally we left in disgust that we were unable to vote for any of that evil of many lessers! M and C Newhouse, MD

[Betty Bradley]

I was pleased that there actually was a lineup when I voted in ward 2 this a.m., (not so in other years where one walked right in), but it moved along quite quickly. I think people in my ward are hoping for upgrades in downtown, hold line for taxes, and show integrity.

bb

[Return of the Ricko]

No problem. In and out like a flash in Dundas.