The New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety now says that according to the province’s mandatory public health order, people under modified self isolation rules will not be able to vote in person at a polling station during this round of municipal, district education, and health authority elections.
Previously, CHMA had reported the opposite, after hearing from a public safety representative via email that, “voting, whether federally, provincially or municipally is considered essential and permitted under modified self-isolation.”
But that statement has since been corrected and clarified. Elaine Bell, communications officer for public safety, emailed CHMA Monday with the following statement:
Under the Mandatory Order, a person under modified self-isolation may not leave their place of residence to go vote inside at a voting station. But alternative methods exist to ensure persons under self-isolation or modified self-isolation can participate in the voting process. People should contact their local returning office and/or Elections NB to find out what those options are.
Hundreds of cross-border commuters in the Sackville area are currently under modified self-isolation, which means they must, “go to their places of residence and not leave for 14 days unless necessary to do their work or school or to meet their medical needs, or to pick up groceries or other essentials by contactless pickup,” according to the latest version of the province’s mandatory order.
The mandatory order does not directly address voting, even though it was signed on April 30, 2021, just a day before advanced polls opened in the province. The decision to require modified self isolation of cross-border commuters was announced the week before, on April 23, and went into effect at midnight April 24.
On Monday morning—the second day of advanced polling—Elections NB issued a news release outlining voting options for people in isolation, including voting by mail, curbside voting, and other forms of contactless voting. Curbside voting involves driving to a polling station or returning office, and having a ballot and ballot box brought to your car.
Elections NB spokesperson Paul Harpelle says the agency is asking voters to, “call the returning office to determine what option works best.”
Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton got hundreds of calls about the new isolation requirement for cross-border commuters after it was announced on April 23.
I called her up on Monday afternoon, before hearing from Public Safety with the latest statement confirming that cross-border commuters would not be allowed to vote in person.
Here’s our conversation:
“We do need to be really careful with the variants,” says Mitton. “We’re still in a pandemic. We need to follow safety precautions. However, to have this information coming out on the second advanced polling day, and to have had this confusion and lack of information… I’m worried that people are going to be feeling discouraged, and voter turnout may be impacted.”
“I’m hopeful that people will still do their best to cast their ballots,” says Mitton. “We’re voting for municipal representatives, as well as our Regional Health Authority and District Education Council representatives. These are important positions that will represent us for the next four years.”
Mitton says she heard from “at least one” person who tried to vote on Saturday and was unable to cast their ballot at a polling station. Others contacting the MLA just want to know if they can or can’t vote in person, and what their options are.
Harpelle says via email that Elections NB cannot comment on second or third hand reports of issues at polls. He added that based on their training, Elections NB workers “would not be asking an elector if they were currently in isolation.”
COVID screening at polling stations is passive, says Harpelle. “Much like most other public buildings, we have posted at entrances, the posters with the current questions required by public health,” writes Harpelle.
Mitton says she’s frustrated with the delay in clear communication of what new border restrictions meant for the voting process in border communities.
“When these new border restrictions came into place on April 23,” says Mitton, “one of the first questions I asked was, what’s going to happen with voters? And then, even going into advanced polls, there wasn’t a clear answer. I’m really frustrated that Public Safety didn’t prioritize the clarification of what would happen, and that communication did not come out sooner from government.”
“This is fundamental to our democracy,” says Mitton, “and it’s unacceptable to not have clear communication around how people can vote.”
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR VOTING FOR CROSS BORDER COMMUTERS?
“With election day now less than a week away, the options available for voters currently in isolation who still want to vote are starting to decrease,” says Elections NB CEO Kim Poffenroth in Monday’s news release.
Paul Harpelle says anyone in isolation should call their returning office to figure out what options remain, be it curbside voting, mail-in voting, or telephone voting.
For Sackville and area, the returning officer is Tanya Cooper, and the number to call is 1-877-886-8483.
Curbside voting is an example of in person voting available to people under modified self-isolation, says Harpelle. Curbside voting involves voters receiving and returning their ballot outside a polling station or returning office.
Voters may also request mail-in ballots, and in some cases, be able to vote by telephone. “Telephone voting is a last resort,” writes Harpelle. “When the special voting officers get a request for an appointment, they will determine if the elector has exhausted all other options.”
Time could be running out to vote by mail. Mail-in ballots need to be requested online or at a returning office, and will be sent to voters by courier. They must then be returned to the returning office where they were issued (listed on the “certificate envelope” than comes with the ballot) before 8pm on May 10, election day.
