Ballot Bungle Leaves Musqueam Voters off Registration List

A substantial democratic oversight was averted just two days before the Vancouver municipal election thanks to one advanced voter who wondered why his name wasn't on the list.

The query led to an investigation by Vancouver's election office Thursday, which revealed that 1,069 voters from the Vancouver-Quilchena electoral division, located on Musqueam land, had been left off of the voter registration list. The error means residents in that voting district didn't receive election information packages.

In a press conference at Vancouver city hall earlier Thursday afternoon, chief electoral officer Janice MacKenzie said the error was fixed in the morning and city officials were already in the district distributing election guides and voter information letters. Residents in the rest of the city received those packages earlier this month.

"All 1,069 missing voters have been added to the list," she said, adding those left off the list were a combination of Musqueam band members and non-members.

Thirty-five voters from the affected division cast advanced ballots and MacKenzie said she was confident the error would not have an impact on the election's outcome.

"I believe I have taken all measures to ensure the integrity of the election, which remains to be seen, but I'm confident in the election," she said, "and that those that are eligible to vote will be able to vote."

However, she added according to the Vancouver Charter candidates and electorates could challenge the election results because of this error.

Most of the 1,324 votes cast in the affected Vancouver-Quichena division in the 2011 election were for NPA mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton.

In an email, NPA spokesperson Ann Gibbon said the party "have no concerns" about the error's impact on the election.

"It appears to have been an administrative mistake," Gibbon wrote. "Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow is seeking an appropriate remedy to the issue."

The Tyee contacted Chief Sparrow but did not hear back by our deadline.

'People don't know where to vote'

Vancouver relies on voter data from Elections BC, which supplied MacKenzie's office with the missing files this morning. She wasn't sure how the error occurred, adding it hasn't happened in Vancouver before. Mackenzie said she is more concerned with fixing the problem than what caused it.

"We will be looking into the matter with Elections BC to better understand how this could have happened," she said.

MacKenzie emphasized that residents in the affected division would have still been able to register as new voters provided they had two identifying documents accepted by the city.

But Diana Day, a member of the Oneida Nation and school board candidate for the Coalition Of Progressive Electors (COPE), says many aboriginal people she has spoken during the campaign were unaware an election is happening in Vancouver.

"People don't know where to vote, where to go, let alone who to vote for because much of the information is on the Internet," she said, adding a lack of Internet access has an impact on all low-income voters in Vancouver, aboriginal or not.

"This campaign is assuming that everyone has equal access to the advanced polls and equal access to the Internet, which we don't."

Day has also spoken out about the lack of advanced voting stations in her neighbourhood of Grandview Woodlands and the nearby Downtown Eastside, which have high aboriginal populations.

A human rights complaint has been brought against the city regarding the east side polls. In a press release issued Thursday, Day quoted the BC Civil Liberties Association about advanced voting: "By not making arrangements for advance polling locations in these areas, the city has failed to equitably serve the people in these communities by facilitating their participation in the way that the city facilitates the participation of people in other neighbourhoods."

"It's unfortunate the city has chosen to leave a segment of the population out of the election, and that it is largely aboriginal people," Day said.