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Pre-marked ballots reportedly given to voters

A woman casts her ballot in the riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, west of Montreal, on election day. (CP)
A woman casts her ballot in the riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, west of Montreal, on election day. (CP)

 

Reports of pre-marked ballots are popping up across the country, as Canadians head to polling stations to vote in Monday’s federal election.

Bruce Lloyd told News 570 that he received a pre-marked ballot when he went to vote in his Kitchener, Ont., riding.

“Guy hands me the ballot, and he’s folded it for me. I got back to the cardboard screen, I unfold it, and there’s an ‘X.’” Lloyd was given another ballot.

Beatrice Hughes of Amherst, N.S., told Metro that there was a clear “X” on her ballot when she went to vote in the booth, though she declined to say for which candidate. She was eventually given a new ballot. When she notified Elections Canada about the incident, it told her it was likely an ink smear.

Stephanie Merrill of Fredericton tweeted about being handed a “pre-chosen” ballot and being told it was from another voter who changed his or her mind.

In Winnipeg, 12 printed ballot books were pulled from one station after a voter noticed a mark on her ballot next to the Conservative candidate.

Dorothy Sitek, a spokeswoman with Elections Canada, tells Yahoo Canada News she can’t speak to each individual incident but that voters with any concerns should direct them to the central poll supervisor at each polling station. She also suggested voters carefully check their ballots after the station’s deputy returning officer has initialed them on the back, as the ink could run through to the other side.

“If the ink bleeds through to the front of the ballot, it would be easily and immediately recognizable as the deputy returning officer’s initials, because (he or she) examines every ballot,” she says.

She adds that ballots with initials that have bled through would still be considered valid.

The issue of pre-marked ballots first appeared during advance polls on the Thanksgiving long weekend, after one man took to Facebook to warn voters to check their ballots carefully.

Chris Quarrie described seeing “black streaks” in the circle where you mark your “X” next to the Conservative candidate. When election officials threw out the ballot and Quarrie got another one, it was also marked, this time next to the Green candidate. The third ballot he received was clean. His Facebook post was shared more than 21,000 times.

Elections Canada reports that 99,428 “rejected” ballots were cast in the 2011 federal election. That’s 0.7 per cent of over 14.8 million ballots cast across Canada.