Forget protest in the streets.
Protest where it hurts: the ballot box.
Danny Williams campaigned in your district in 2001 and held out the Tory victory there and across the road for Wally Young as proof times were changing in the Tory favour.
Well, times have really changed.
If you want to send a message to the government it will never, ever forget, then there is a simple way to send a message.
Vote today.
It’s called a special ballot.
Every person can request a special ballot including:
- an elector who has reason to believe that he/she will have difficulty voting on polling day perhaps due to work or personal commitments;
- a student who is in attendance at a recognized educational institution either inside or outside the Province;
- an elector temporarily residing outside the Province for a continuous period of less than 6 months who is unable to attend at either the advance or regular poll;
- an elector who is incarcerated in a correctional institution or in detention at the Waterford Hospital;
- a patient in hospital who will be unable to attend either the advance or regular poll.
All you have to do is contact the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, otherwise known as Elections Newfoundland and Labrador.
There’s a form to complete and send in. You can find it in pdf format here.
They’ll send you back a voter kit which you can use to cast your vote right now.
But there’s no election yet, you may be thinking.
Doesn’t matter.
Under section 86(4) of the Elections Act, voters who meet those criteria above can ask for a special ballot no more than four weeks before an election or by-election is called. Well, you and the rest of the world don’t know when the thing will be called but we know when the earliest date is that it could be called.
That would be October 2, the day Trevor said he is quitting the House of Assembly. Any of you who knew Trevor was going could have already voted. But since the rest of us found out today, you should be able to get a ballot and vote right now.
There is no legal reason for Paul Reynolds to refuse you the opportunity to vote under section 86(4).
And don’t worry about the fact there are no declared candidates.
Under section 86.4, you can write in the name of the political party you want to vote for instead of the name of a particular person. Once a candidate is declared for that party, the candidate will get your vote.
Voting is your right.
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