Some things just need to be said...

Thursday, June 09, 2005

71 Voters lose vote in BC

It could be over because some polling clerks screwed up. What a hell of a way to end an election. Our own little Florida. Perhaps not that crooked, but the results are the same.

Elections BC told CBC this afternoon it was "an unfortunate error made by an elections official" and says "the ballots were disqualified because they weren't properly certified." in the Vancouver-Burrard constituency

Tim Stevenson added that an appeal would not look at the ballots not opened. So in an election where only 57% of people in BC actually voted 71 of those people have lost their vote due to "an unfortunate error". That is unacceptable to me and should be to whole bunch of you.

It does not surprise me Elections BC folks made errors, here in Kelowna, I had to find the right forms for the polling clerks to use and find the darn oath in the book for them. It happened more than a few times.

So what do we do now. Accept 71 people voted and through no fault of their own, lost their vote. If you voted absentee I suggest you get a hold of Elections BC or email Tim Stevenson. Stevenson says he will fight to have the ballots counted, but can not do it through an appeal.

Could we end up with a Florida style delay here? Its no secret to regular readers of From the Heartlands (Politics in BC) that I am no fan of Lorne Mayencourt. Still I was accepting his win and even congratulated him in an earlier post here.

Open the ballots and count them. At least then we will know for sure who got the most ballots.

Thanks to Aunty Bertha at Eclectic Eccentricity for the tip on the breaking news here.

Election BC website

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