12 September 2005

St. John's mail-in madness

The first mail-ins ballots arrived in St. John's households.

The problems are turning up rapidly.

My parents received three ballots in the mail: one for each of them and the third for a cousin of mine who hasn't lived in St. John's for the better part of 10 years.

He lived with them while he attended Marine Institute, but he finished that program a long time ago. In the meantime he has lived in Hong Kong and a few other places before settling down in his hometown of North Harbour, Placentia Bay.

My parents are checking to see if my deceased grandparents receive ballots.

The ballot for my cousin will be returned to City Hall, unopened.

In addition, at large candidate Simon Lono ran into some confusion at City Hall when he filed his nomination papers. The voters list contained the names of Simon Lono, candidate, Simon Lono, the candidate's father, who passed away four years ago and - get this - Simon Lono, the candidate's 12 year old son.

A caller to one of the open line shows today reported he received two ballots: one in his own name and one for him using his nickname.

All told that makes four errors in the voters list, two of which resulted in ballots being mailed out to people who don't have a right to vote.

How many more are there in a city of about 80, 000 voters?