THUNDER BAY — Delays in voting were reported early Thursday at a polling station in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan electoral district.
A resident of Oliver-Paipoonge told Tbnewswatch the problem was the result of voters having received voter registration cards with incorrect addresses printed on them.
Murray Pollock said he arrived early to cast his ballot at the Rosslyn Community Centre on Rosslyn Road, had to wait half an hour in line to get in, then had to be "re-processed."
"There's going to be a lot of delays out here, and a lot of unhappy people," Pollock said.
The 26-year resident of Oliver-Paipoonge said voters had received cards with "Thunder Bay, Ontario" addresses and an incorrect postal card. Addresses in that area, he said, are supposed to be "Rosslyn, Ontario" with a different postal code.
"Everybody's gotta get their address changed before they can get their ballot," Pollock said.
He said he expected lineups at that polling station would be getting longer as the day went on.
However, at 1:30PM a reporter who visited the station said there was no visible lineup at that time.
Thunder Bay-Atikokan returning officers Tracy Tieman was unable to provide an explanation for the address mix-up, saying inquiries should be directed to the Elections Ontario office in Toronto.
Elections Ontario has not yet responded to Tbnewswatch.
Tieman said the turnout at polls across her riding was generally "steady" during the morning. There are about 58,000 eligible voters in Thunder Bay-Atikokan.
In the neighbouring riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North, returning officer Julio Gomes said about 4500 voters had cast ballots by around 11:30 a.m., but no comparison with the 2014 Ontario election was available. The riding has about 54,600 eligible voters.
