This past weekend, a Campbell River municipal councillor is raising questions about voter suppression in the B.C. provincial election.
The polling station for the provincial election at Cape Mudge Village was reported cancelled without even a day's notice, and the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw poll was shortened from 12 hours to four.
"Was horrific to see Elections BC cancel the polling station in Cape Mudge Village and cut the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw poll from 12hrs to 4hrs with not even days notice for the change," posted Campbell River Coun. Miranda Tanille Johnston on her Facebook page.
In addition to being a Campbell River councillor, Johnston is a candidate for the NDP in the next federal election for the North Island-Powell River riding.
Elections BC did not respond to the Campbell River Mirror before press time.
In an email to the Campbell River Mirror, Johnston says she found out about the Cape Mudge poll being cancelled at around 9 a.m. on Friday (Oct. 18) morning due to weather.
"Yes, weather was the excuse. But that's poor planning by Elections BC. Nobody on the Island who's from the Island(s) makes a single plan entrusting BC Ferries one ferry," she said. "For something as vital and important as voting for our provincial government - Elections BC should have at least been over on Quadra the night before. OR, even better, use folks from Quadra for that poll."
Johnston also said that band members managed to use the ferry at various times on Friday.
As for Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw, Johnston couldn't remember if it was Election Day or the Friday she found out, calling those two days "emotionally charged."
"I have no idea what the reason was, but that is a significant change. Folks would have already had their rides planned, and their trip to the polls organized," she says.
The polling station was supposed to be a regular 12-hour poll but got cut to four hours.
"What's the excuse? Why are our Nations in the North Island having to plead for Polls on Reserve in safe spaces so that they can vote? It's hard not to feel like this is what voter suppression is, cuts to early voting and election day polls," Johnston says. "It's 100 per cent, as a First Nations person, feels like voter suppression when Nations in rural/remote areas are not given equitable access to polls. Never mind being offered an option and having it taken away."
