Many voters register on election day
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Rankin Inlet (Dec 04/00) - Despite some manpower problems in Iqaluit, election day ran smoothly across Nunavut.
Rankin-based returning officer Sandy Kusugak says activity was hectic in a number of polling stations due to last-minute registrations.
"We were expecting a lot of early registrations in a number of communities due to decentralization," says Kusugak.
"Decentralization and the creation of Nunavut resulted in a lot of people on the move during the past 19 months."
Kusugak says voter registration was slower than her staff had anticipated and frustrated voters like Iqaluit's Dan Page.
"I was in line for an hour waiting to vote," said Page.
"That was a lot longer than I counted on."
Arriving at Cadet Hall in Iqaluit mere minutes after the poll opened at 9:30 a.m., Page said he witnessed everything from improperly trained staff to shortages of capable hands to overworked deputy returning officers.
"That can lead to booboos," said Page.
Voters unaware
Kusugak says many voters didn't seem aware of the revision process and early voting opportunities despite Elections Canada's efforts.
"Yellow information pamphlets written in both English and Inuktitut were sent out through the post office, but I have no idea how well they were read," she said.
"We had to process a lot of registrations on election day."
Although still not official, more than 7,500 Nunavummiut cast their ballots out of about 13,000 names on the voters' list.
It is still not known how many people whose names were on the official voter's list were ineligible to vote due to address changes.
With growing populations in many Nunavut communities, there could be another problem waiting to make itself known in future elections.
Kusugak says not having streets and houses properly identified in larger areas such as Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet is an election nightmare waiting to happen.
"We had 800 people at one polling station in Iqaluit and many people in Rankin couldn't figure where they fit into the election scheme.
"In the interests of efficiency and avoiding future headaches, this is something which should be addressed before our next major election."
- With files from Kerry McCluskey
