Since the start of the municipal election campaign two weeks ago, Coast Reporter has aggressively pushed a get out and vote message. Every vote does matter and we want to see every eligible voter afforded the opportunity to cast a vote on Nov. 15.
So when we were contacted by a concerned resident this week, a resident who is feeling disenfranchised, feeling left out, feeling that his vote does not matter, well, you can imagine that our ears pricked up right away.
As you will read in our story in today’s newspaper, Roberts Creek resident Ken Knight and his wife Heather will be on vacation in California during the month of November and will not be able to vote on election day or at the advanced polls.
Ken contacted the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) looking for a mail-in ballot, but was told that the SCRD has a policy of not allowing absentee ballots.
Both the District of Sechelt and Town of Gibsons have provisions in place for absentee ballots, so why doesn’t the SCRD?
When contacted, corporate officer Angie Legault said she was aware of 10 to 12 requests made by citizens who lived in the SCRD rural areas for mail-in ballots, which is about double what the SCRD was asked for in the 2011 municipal election. Every vote matters, and every vote counts in an election race that is expected to be very close in many ridings. But it appears that the SCRD board doesn’t care about every vote.
There are multiple candidates vying for positions in Roberts Creek, Elphinstone and West Howe Sound. What if someone is elected by, say, 10 or 12 votes? Could those residents who requested absentee ballots have made a difference in the election outcome? You bet.
Board chair Garry Nohr admitted that directors considered the mail-in ballot option but in the end decided that there were “some concerns” that needed to be worked out. He said security was a major concern for some on the board, as ballots for rural areas would be done off-Coast.
If the District of Sechelt and Town of Gibsons have provisions in place, why couldn’t the SCRD directors follow suit?
Everyone should have an equal right to vote. And with this short-sighted decision, SCRD directors have denied the Knights and other rural voters their right to vote.
In their short-sighted way, SCRD directors have thumbed their noses at the democratic process.
