People with COVID-19 can vote curbside in provincial election

WATERLOO REGION COVID-19 shouldn’t stop people from voting in the provincial election.

Elections Ontario is offering curbside voting for people who test positive or have COVID-19 symptoms.

Just like curbside pickup for shopping during the pandemic, curbside voting allows people to vote without going inside the polling station.

Instead, the ballot will be brought outside the voting location by an election official. This will be available at all polling stations.

“Hopefully, this helps them out if they’re feeling they have symptoms,” said Jo Langham, manager of media and public engagement with Elections Ontario.

All people need to do to get curbside voting is talk to an information assistant greeting voters outside the polling station or just inside the door.

“Election officials bring the ballot to them to make the process more accessible,” Langham said.

The marked ballot will then be placed in a ballot box.

Elections Ontario has offered this service in previous elections to make voting more accessible to people with disabilities. Now during the pandemic, it has an added benefit for voters concerned about spreading the virus.

Those wary of voting on election day and potentially walking into a crowded polling station had other ways to vote ahead, although typically most Ontario residents cast their ballot on the day.

Early voting has been available for nearly a month, including voting by mail and advance polls.

“People have had a lot of options,” Langham said.

Many chose to vote before election day. Preliminary figures show 1,066,545 Ontario voters — 9.92 per cent of eligible voters — cast their ballot at advance polls that were open for 10 days. That’s compared to 698,609 voters or 6.8 per cent during five days of advance voting in 2018. Voting kits were mailed to 126,135 people who requested to vote by mail.

Safety measures

Inside polling stations, pandemic measures will be in place to keep voters and election workers safe.

People are asked to physically distance when inside. Sign-in stations will be spaced further apart than usual with shields.

“Hand sanitizer and masks will be offered and available,” Langham said.

While masks are no longer required under provincial pandemic measures, “if somebody wants to use them, they can.”

New this election

Advanced voting locations were open for 10 days from May 19 to 28. That’s double the five days in the 2018 election.

Nine out of 10 people who vote will be at technologically enabled polls, where it is easy for workers to look up people on the voter list or register them.

“It really is an easy process,” Langham said.

Polling stations will be using a “bank-teller model.” In previous elections, people had to line up only at the table for their specific poll. That sometimes meant the aggravation of joining a long line while nobody was waiting at other spots.

“Now, you go to the next available poll official,” Langham said. “We’re trying to make it as fast and easy as we can.”