Some Edmontonians voted in the wrong public school board trustee race after receiving an incorrect ballot

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Some voters have cast their ballot in the wrong board trustee race for Edmonton Public Schools due to incorrect information provided by poll workers at selected prospective polling stations.

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On Thursday afternoon, Edmonton Elections Canvassing Officer Aileen Giesbrecht said that in “limited cases” during the first three days of advance polls, voters received a ballot for a school board district in which they do not reside because the “where to vote” tool was used to confirm that the addresses were not fully updated.

Giesbrecht said the problem is believed to be limited, having heard from 40 people about this concern. For early polls, there is one polling station per council district, but the nine public school board boundaries are different and overlap with the other boundaries.

Of the people who reached out, some recognized the problem and corrected it before voting. Others cast an incorrect vote, but Giesbrecht said the voting process is complete and nothing can be done to change the vote and allow residents to vote in the correct district.

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“Once the voter has received their ballots, has gone behind the screen of secrecy and has cast their ballot, the voting process is complete. I cannot and will not be allowed to reconnect the voter registration form and the ballot they later cast, ”he told reporters Thursday afternoon. “We are in the process of reaching out to all voters who have contacted us with this concern. We are reinforcing with our Edmonton Elections team the validation process when delivering a ballot to a voter. “

Changes are being made as of Thursday, Giesbrecht said, to ensure the issue is fixed, including additional staffing and a second set of eyes verification process to ensure the correct ballot is delivered to voters. Giesbrecht said the maps at each polling station and the online tool that informs Edmontons about their districts are correct.

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There may have also been connectivity issues at polling stations that have caused a delay in loading information on where to vote, Giesbrecht said, adding that staff have been advised to ensure that the website is fully updated.

“If there are problems, we would like to hear from them,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to make sure this is corrected in the future.”

Voters are reminded to know their districts before going to the polls and to check their ballot before voting. Anyone with concerns or who voted in the wrong race should contact Edmonton Elections at [email protected] or 780-442-8683.

In three days, more than 19,000 people have voted in advance polls.

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