SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Several senior citizens were turned away when they went to vote at Northern United Place and were told they had to vote in another electoral district.

Ed Jeske, a resident of Aven Court, was turned away when he went to vote at Northern United Place and was told he should be voting in Weledeh at St. Patrick High School. - Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

When Ed Jeske arrived at his usual polling station Monday morning at 10 a.m., he was told he wasn't on the official list for Yellowknife Centre. The person working at the polling station told him he needed to vote in Weledeh, at St. Patrick's High School.

Jeske, recently honoured by the city with a Multiplex arena pad named after him, has lived in the Aven Court seniors' complex for nine years and said he's always voted in the same place.

The 83-year-old said he wouldn't have minded had he been told in advance but he found the ordeal tiring and painful.

"I'm all crippled and I had to go all the way there," he said. "I wasn't going to call or complain. It's over now."

Jeske said climbing up the short flight of stairs outside Northern United Place was difficult enough because he had to leave his walker at the bottom.

"I had to crawl up those stairs and back down," he said.

He drove to St. Patrick's High School but said he took several breaks walking across the parking lot because even 500 yards is tiring.

He was in pain by the end of the day and his doctor recommended he take a Tylenol.

"I overdid it," he said. "I was played out."

Jeske said the city should consider putting a poll close to the seniors' complex so more people can vote. He said he knew many residents who wanted to vote but couldn't because they were in wheelchairs or unable to walk to the poll.

When asked about how voting went, city clerk Debbie Gillard said "there were a few glitches."

Gillard didn't know why the Aven Court residents had been listed in another electoral district but she said there must have been an error in the data entry process. Gillard wasn't aware of the situation until someone from Aven Manor contacted her. She said city officials made the necessary changes to the list when the problem was brought to their attention.

"We checked the voters' list and discovered some people were on the voters' list as voting in a different polling station," she said. "As soon as we were made aware of this, we checked all the names and phoned the voting stations."

Gillard didn't know how many people were told to go to a different polling station but said there were a few instances. She said she and her staff will go through the voter's list and fix any mistakes brought up during the registration process.

Jeske wasn't the only senior turned away. One woman biked to the next polling station. Two others called to complain.

"They have to remember that not all residents can walk there, like me, I can't drive. I took my cane and hobbled down," said Ajje Shaw, another resident of Aven Court. Like Jeske, she was told she wasn't on the list.

"I don't love any politician enough to go and break my hip," she said.

"They need someone who could read a map," she said. "Those weren't glitches, those were big knots."

After contacting the city, Shaw was allowed to vote at Northern United Place.

City councillor Lydia Bardak said she heard about the issue from a resident who called the city about the problem.

She said the polling confusion was a concern but not entirely surprising.

"It's always a concern if it's difficult to vote. Voters turn out if they're committed to the democratic process," Bardak said.

She said she heard the problem was handled and hope it hadn't affected that many people.

"Some (polling staff) are total newbies, some people are very experienced ... when you do something like this every three years, it's not like there's tons of experienced poll staff. I can see where there are challenges."