A Short Story: BC Elections Mail-In Ballot Fails

Last week in BC we had an election. Will and I opted for the mail-in ballots which would allow for us vote at a time that was convenient for us - which so happened to be at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night. 

But this process was not without it's fails and flaws. 

Oh no. 

And let me tell about the problems we encountered. 

Three to be precise. 

Issue #1

Upon opening our voter packages I noticed that the ballots were resting behind the flap of the certification envelope. Which typically wouldn't be a big deal, unless your voter package happened to get damp because you live in one of the rainiest parts of Canada, and in which case the glue on the certification envelope would moisten and then stick to the ballot. 

I tried putting them in the freezer to make the glue brittle. 

I tried heating them up with my hair drier to soften the glue. 

Neither attempt was successful and I ended up ripping them apart as carefully as possible. 

Mistake #2

The second paragraph in the middle of this photo reads that you are eligible to vote if you are 18 years or older. Which would mean anyone born before October 24th, 2002 is allowed and encouraged to vote. Yes? 

Yes. 

But the certification envelope had the first two digits for the year already filled in with '19__' which would then suggest one had to have been born in 1999 or later to fill in the form. 

Confusing? 

Yes. 

Problem #3

The third, and thankfully final frustration we came across (hopefully there weren't any more that anyone else found, I wouldn't wish that on anyone!) was that, like the certification envelope, the return envelopes were completely sealed shut. 

I didn't even bother trying to peel them open but just sliced the fold seem so I could put our ballots inside. 

And like the certification envelopes, we taped them shut as professionally as we could. 

Quite the ordeal!

But we were determined to vote!