As the old adage of democracy says, if you don't vote, you have no right to complain later. And residents in Vernon seem to be taking that message to heart.
Advance voting for the federal election kicked off Friday, April 18, and long lines could be seen at Vernon polling stations throughout the first half of the day.
Ron Allen, central polls supervisor with Elections Canada, was at the polling station at the Schubert Centre on 30th Avenue. He said the polling station was "really busy" early in the morning, with a long line forming even before the polls opened at 9 a.m., and added the lineups out the door have persisted all day.
"People have been really keen to come out and vote, and I think that's great," Allen told The Morning Star as people filed into the polling station around 2 p.m. "The workers here are working really hard to keep everybody happy and keep everybody voting."
Similarly long lines could be seen at the Rec Centre polling station throughout the day, with some reporting an hour-long wait to vote.
Allen couldn't say how many people had come in to vote at the Schubert Centre so far, but said he was pleased to see so many people making the effort to vote at their earliest opportunity.
Voters in last fall's provincial election may recall being able to vote at any of the polling stations in town. Allen reminded that voting in this federal election is different: people are assigned a specific voting station that they must attend to cast their ballot. Voters can find the address for their assigned polling station on the back of their voter information card, by visiting or by calling 1-800-463-6868.
The advance polls are open until 9 p.m. Friday, and will be open again on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Another early-voting option is to vote at any Elections Canada office by April 22 at 6 p.m. The locations in Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee can be found . The offices are open seven days a week: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
Residents can also vote by mail using the special ballot process. The deadline to apply to vote by special ballot is Tuesday, April 22, and the marked ballot must be returned by election day 鈥� Monday, April 28. Visit the to apply to vote by mail.
To vote, electors must prove their identity and their civic address. The list of accepted ID can be found .
Election Day is Monday, April 28. The four candidates running in Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee are: Scott Anderson (Conservative), Leah Main (NDP), Blair Visscher (Green) and Anna Warwick Sears (Liberal).
