Accessibility plan in place for election day
By Mark Schadenberg
Did you know?
On Election Day -- October 24 -- City transit will be free. This decision by your current City Council was an integral part of the City Clerk Department report called Pre-Election Accessibility Plan, which was passed in an open session of council on June 16.
With a growing city, Cowan Sportsplex on Ridgeway Road was added as an election location to bring the voting-day polling places up to 5 -- Goff Hall (Community Complex) on Finkle, Unifor Hall on Beale, Rock Church on Nellis, and Oxford Auditorium on Nellis.
The Clerk's office, which includes election coordinator Bill Tigert on a contract salary, studied all locations for accessibility, but many other parameters were considered such as parking, width of doorways and corridors, necessary ramps, lobby space, and washrooms. The official returning officer for the vote count will always be the city clerk, who is Amy Humphries. The deputy city clerk is Sunayana Katikapalli. I talked to Amy yesterday and she noted that her team will include senior staff from City Hall, additional employees of both the City and County, and those hired for the day. Information on this hiring system is found on the City website.
Read the saved clips I have included here with more details on advance polls, election day, and the roving polls to retirement homes and the hospital. If you are unable to attend a polling station on Oct. 24 then be sure to take advantage of the advance polls, which are held at City Hall and there's an elevator there for easy access.
Also noted below is some information on how you can declare representation for someone else to therefore vote in proxy.
One last quick addition. In 2016, the condominium act changed, which now permits all candidates to campaign inside apartment buildings. My thought is that building managers should set up a table for council hopefuls to place a few flyers, which would be similar to the distribution of the Oxford Review thus allowing tenants / occupants to take any promotional material they may want.
There will be no roving polling stations on Oct. 24 in apartment buildings though.
www.cityofwoodstock.ca
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