Long lineups at polling stations across sa国际传媒 鈥� and in Greater Victoria 鈥� frustrated a number of electors as advance voting began across the country on Friday, but Elections sa国际传媒 said volumes were within normal ranges.
There had been concerns that the Conservative government鈥檚 new election law 鈥� which tightened identification requirements 鈥� could create headaches for certain Canadians, but Elections sa国际传媒 said they were working to ensure everyone who wanted to vote would get a chance to do so.
Nonetheless, the first few hours of advance polling resulted in lengthy waits for a number of voters.
In Hamilton, Mark Cripps waited an hour and a half to cast his ballot and said polling staff seemed overwhelmed at the crowds who had shown up.
鈥淎ll the lineups were huge,鈥� said the 48-year-old. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 seem like they were prepared or they didn鈥檛 expect this many people to come out.鈥�
Everyone in Cripps鈥檚 line had to go through one official who filled out paperwork for each voter, specifying their name and address before getting a signature, he said. The bottleneck got so bad that extra staff were called in, he said.
Cripps noted that polling officials were identifying handicapped and elderly voters and helping them move ahead faster, although that caused some friction amongst others in line.
鈥淚 saw people leave,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ons of people leave.鈥�
Talia Johnson was one voter who decided not to wait in line when a polling official told her the wait at her Ottawa advance polling station was up to 40 minutes.
鈥淭here were a lot of people,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n the past when I used advance polls the waits haven鈥檛 been very long at all.鈥�
Steve Armstrong also expected a smoother experience when he voted in Calgary.
The 54-year-old said his advance polling station was located in a small room with about 100 people in line before it opened.
While Armstrong waited 20 minutes to vote, he said the lineup appeared to be even longer when he left.
鈥淭he fact that they were caught off guard by people wanting to vote was disconcerting to say the least,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was just poorly organized.鈥�
Elections sa国际传媒 said some lineups were typical at the start of advance polling.
鈥淚t is normal, especially on the first day,鈥� said spokeswoman Natalie Babin-Dufresne. 鈥淲e thank electors for their patience.鈥�
Babin-Dufresne said Elections sa国际传媒 had not received reports of any significant problems by Friday afternoon and noted that polling officials were able to call in extra staff when needed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see electors out there on the first day,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur best advice is the same advice we give throughout, to come prepared.鈥�
Babin-Dufresne noted that voting wasn鈥檛 expected to be a lengthier process due to the recent changes to the election law.
The law requires voters to have a piece of photo identification with an address, such as a driver鈥檚 license, or two pieces of identification with one of them bearing the voter鈥檚 current address.
It also ends the practice of vouching, in which a properly identified voter can vouch for the identity of someone lacking complete ID.
If a person鈥檚 identification doesn鈥檛 have an address, a voter can now take an oath, show two pieces of ID with their name and have someone who knows them attest to their address 鈥� that person must show proof of identity and address and be registered in the same polling division.
Advance polling runs until Monday.
