Skidding In With Voting Info At The Last Minute

So…it’s provincial election time…way too soon. And here I am, doing my usual thing where I try to figure out voting details, especially where assistive voting is concerned. Here’s what I have learned. I even hassled some election office people to get some of this info, although I had to do a lot less hassling.

Things are improving on the assistive voting tech front. So we all know what I’m talking about, assistive voting technology refers to those machines that read the choices out loud and you can indicate your choice by using sip and puff, using paddles or using buttons on a giant game-controller-like thing. If you want to use the machines, you can use them from February 20th to the 26th at your district’s election office, or if you’re feeling brave, you can call that election office and book an appointment to use the machines on election day at the same office. Those are the options that *should* be a certainty. But apparently, if you live in a big enough election district, you might get a machine at one of your advance polling locations between February 20 and 22. But you have no way of knowing if you’re a big enough district. This is the wording on the Elections Ontario website:

You can use assistive voting technology at your local election office from February 20 to 26 and at designated advance voting locations from February 20 to 22. You can also contact your local election office to make an appointment to use assistive voting technology on election day, February 27.

To me, that means that in each district, there will be at least one advance voting location that will have the machines. But that’s not what it meant to the people who built that website. They need to make that wording clearer, and they need to give people a way to check if their district is one of the ones who is big enough to get a machine at an advance poll. Actually, what they need to do is have more machines so they can put them in more places so this stupid wording isn’t necessary, but that probably isn’t happening for a long time.

While I’m here, allow me to make fun of the accessibility tools section of the Elections Ontario website. Not all of the tools need to be laughed at, but some do, so let’s write them all down, and start cackling at the cackleworthy ones.

Eligible electors can make their own choice in accessing the tools and services required to successfully navigate through the voting process.
• Use a mobile phone and/or electronic device as an accessibility tool. 
• Bring a support person to assist with communication, mobility, personal care for medical needs and/or accessing goods, services or facilities. 
• Bring a guide dog or service animal. 
• Use magnifiers and ballot templates with braille numbering and cut outs for voter use.
• Contact your local election office to request curbside voting. The election official would bring the ballot outside the voting location for you to vote.
American Sign Language (ASL) and Langues des Signes Québécoise (LSQ) Interpreters and Intervenors are booked by the voter and billed directly to Elections Ontario.
Braille requests
You can contact us to request a voter information card in braille. 
• Requests for braille voter information cards which contain information about when and where to vote must be received by February 19.  
You can request this braille item by: 
• email: info@elections.on.ca
• phone: 1.888.668.8683
Accessible services for voters unable to go to a voting location
Assistive voting technology in local election offices
Elections Ontario app

Let’s laugh at a few of these, and ask more questions about others.
• Use a mobile phone and/or electronic device as an accessibility tool. 
Um? I never thought we were prevented from taking our phones into the booth. And if we’re the one providing our own phone, then why is that marketed as an accessibility tool/service?

• Bring a support person to assist with communication, mobility, personal care for medical needs and/or accessing goods, services or facilities. 
Just like we’ve always had as an option! Again, if I’m bringing my own help, how is that an accessibility service? I would understand if there was a special section involved if I wanted the person I brought to help me vote. I might have to sign something or whatever to let them go behind the screen with me. But this is just telling me I can bring someone with me to the building. Duh! Of course I can! Maybe this comes from the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, but it still sounds kind of weird.

• Bring a guide dog or service animal. 
Because it’s kind of the law! That is not something super special. I assumed that they would train the poll workers about service animals, but putting that out there as a service they offer sounds completely ridiculous.

Now that I’m done laughing, I have more legitimate questions. The section about sign language interpreters and intervener services breaks my brain. I didn’t post all the phone and email addresses because there’s a lot there, but there seems to only be contact names and numbers for certain cities. Does this mean that you call that city’s office and they connect with someone closer to you? Or do they have to send someone from that city? Also, am I understanding it correctly that in some places, interveners are being asked to act as sign language interpreters? How the heck is this supposed to work? They probably can’t, but there’s no information about how long a wait it is between when you call for one and when one is available. Or maybe I’m thinking too much. But that whole section seemed very confusing. But I’m glad it’s there for people who need it.

That’s what I have been able to find out. The Elections Ontario app had my voter card, so if my card doesn’t come in the mail, I have the electronic version.

Here are some generally helpful links:
To figure out your district, where you have to vote, and other important info, punch in your postal code here.

If your voter card doesn’t come in the mail, since the mail is backlogged to hell, here’s what you need to know.

One thing I’ll say for this year’s election is I didn’t talk to 3 different people and get 3 different answers. They seemed to know what they were talking about in terms of the machines, and that’s awesome. I also think this is the first year we’ve been able to vote on election day with the machine if we wanted to. I’m always afraid it will fail, and then I’ll be screwed because that’s my last chance to vote, but I’m glad it’s an option.

At the end of the day, what matters is that we all find a way to slog through the snow and vote. It’s important!