you will take my right to vote FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS 11:28 p.m. & 02 October 2003
Today was Election Day in Ontario. I was not allowed to vote. I am an angry, angry kitty.
I have emailed nearly 20 people including the party leaders, my local candidates, local and national newspapers, and CBC radio and this hasn't even come close to quelling my rage about this. The right to vote is something I hold incredibly dear and I will not go gentle into that good night. To misquote Charleton Heston (who I don't even like!), you will take my right to vote FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS.
This is what I have been sending to everyone:
To vote in an election—be it municipal, provincial or federal is not simply a right, it is also a responsibility. On the night of October 2nd I was turned away from my polling station.
The officer in charge at this polling station told me that the identification I was instructed to bring by the Elections Ontario website was not sufficient to register myself to vote in the Nipissing riding. (I had my credit card bill stating my residency in North Bay, my driver’s license with my parents’ address and my passport).
It is, I was later told at the returning office, a question of permanent residency. It seems the fact that I have lived in North Bay as a student for the three years—including paying rent at the same address for the last twenty-nine consecutive months—and even voted in the Nipissing riding during the last federal election does not constitute permanent residency.
I found out later that some students were offered the opportunity to fill out a “change of permanent address” form in order to register themselves. I was not.
Not all students were denied the right to vote. My younger sister is in her first year at Nipissing University and was able to vote in the Nipissing riding and did not have to change her permanent address to do so.
I am shocked and saddened by this farce of an election. I do not believe that I should be penalized for getting an education. I believe that in order to be fair, rules need to be explained (or at least made available to the public) and applied consistently across the province.
All I asked for—all any of the students who were turned away were asking for—was a chance to make our voices heard.
I realize that perhaps there is little that can be done in terms of this particular election. When I ask that tonight’s polling and procedure be audited, I do not ask it to detract from this riding’s victor. I ask it so that this injustice and confusion do not continue in the future, and so that our voices may be heard the next time we attempt to vote.