On my way to work this morning:
On my way home from work this evening:
I actually had to go to the polling station twice, because this year they’re requiring ID and I didn’t have any with me. If you haven’t headed to the polls yet, don’t forget photo ID and proof of address. This is my passport, my water bill, my keys and my ballot.
Also, tomorrow’s my birthday. In lieu of birthday presents, please vote anything but Conservative. Thank you.
Oh, don’t forget tomorrow is Blog Action Day. This year’s theme is Poverty. Tomorrow I’ll tell you the story of how I escaped from poverty.
TAGS:
New dawn is gorgeous.
“If you haven’t headed to the polls yet, don’t forget photo ID and proof of address”
I didn’t have any photo ID (Because, I simply don’t have any.) I did not bring a proof of address, and nor was I asked for it. I showed them my battered old SIN Card, my original Health Card, and my compact birth cert.; they looked me up on the voters list, and then directed me to the poll, where I voted.
Thank you Robin. It was unusually vibrant out at the Farm this morning.
Dave, I’m glad to hear they weren’t too sticky about the ID. I didn’t have anything but a business card the first time I went, and they showed me the list of acceptable ID (business cards weren’t on it). It occurred to me that youth would be the most impacted by stringent ID requirements, since they’re the least likely to own any photo ID.
I thought this was a safe NDP riding, so I decided to reward the Liberals for proposing a carbon tax.
Hopefully, a defeat for them tonight would not create a persistent association between carbon pricing and electoral failure.
Your ballot looks like my ballot!
You don’t have to have photo id, it is just perferred. I checked the Elections Canada website for some folks at work who were blaming their old style health cards and lack of driver’s licenses for not voting, and apparently you can bring id with your name on it (old health card, SIN card, etc) and no photo as long as you also bring an official bill with your address (bank statement, credit card statement, utility bill). Even when I was 18 I could scare up those items!
Worse come to worse, you can have someone vouch for you, but they should do everything they can to make sure you are not disenfranchised! At least, that is what they told me when I worked at the polls last year.
I rented a room once from the CCOC…
Your ballot looks like my ballot, too.
Milan, I’m in the same riding as you and was tempted to vote Green since I thought the NDP was safe here. But then I worried that if we all did that, the NDP wouldn’t get in!
Jo – yay!
Heather – apparently voter turnout was the lowest ever. I wonder if the new ID requirements had anything to do with that.
Gabriel – I’ve lived in three CCOC apartments, for a total of 9 years. They’re the best landlords in Ottawa, in my humble opinion.
Leanne – yay again!
I think showing your completed ballot to anyone may be against the law….
Bringing a recording device into a polling station is against the Elections Canada Act… at least that’s what the signs at my polling station said. From what I can find it’s not about the ballot per se, but about the invasion of other voters privacy. I don’t know what the penalty would be because I can’t find the provisions in the actual Act.
All that said, I took one of mine as well:
http://culturalsnafu.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/59-percent/
If I’d been in your riding, I’d have had a much easier time voting. In my case it was: go with my heart, or go with the best hope to get a tory out. I literally stood in the ballot booth and stared at the ballet. Then I asked my 9-year-old which one to vote for, and put the X where he said. Didn’t matter. The tory got in.
And that was on my second visit, since I too was tossed out for insufficient ID. I remember thinking, in the good old days anyone could just say they were me.
Please check this out: Liberals (and others) Opposed to Stephane Dion’s Removal as Leader at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40161095228