Voters in Cambridge could find themselves taking a longer trip to vote on Sept. 20 as the number of polling locations in the riding has dropped significantly.
According to data from Election’s Canada, the number of polling locations in Cambridge will drop from 76 to 44.
This represents a 42 per cent reduction in the number of polling locations.
Dugald Maudsley, Greater Toronto Area regional media advisor with Elections Canada, said people might not be voting in the same places they had before or may have to travel a little further, but Elections Canada has provided multiple ways to vote, including mail-in ballots.
“There are multiple ways to vote," said Maudsley. "If it turned out it didn’t work for someone, or there was a challenge for someone to get to a different polling place or site they are used to, they had the option of voting in person at an Elections Canada office, and they also had the option to vote by mail."
As of midnight Sunday, Elections Canada has received 1,071 of the 1,911 mail-in ballots issued to electors from within the Cambridge riding.
Mail-in voting closes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
As for why electors are seeing fewer polling locations, the complexities COVID-19 presents in using past polling locations played a factor in the locations available to Elections Canada.
“The main goal of Elections Canada is to ensure we have a safe and healthy election," said Maudsley. "In order to do that we had to make sure we had social distancing, and in order to do that Elections Canada chose to try and find larger sites."
This lead to the elimination of many traditional polling locations such as schools that are generally utilized by Election's Canada.
Maudsley also noted that while this is the most up-to-date data, polling locations and places have been added to some ridings, and the current number could show a discrepancy in the data provided.
