Seniors come out to vote

In cities like Burlington, the senior voting bracket is the highest in the area.  However some seniors may have difficult time making it to the polling stations. Especially if they live in nursing homes.

Elections Ontario recognizes that there are many seniors in nursing homes with cognitive impairments and those people may need help voting. We spoke with Elections Ontario today and they said that they are setting up polling stations inside a number of nursing homes across the province.

Every resident who is eligible to vote will be on the voting list regardless of any memory impairment like dementia or Alzheimer’s. If a resident is unable to vote on their own, Elections Ontario allows a friend, family member, nurse or staff member to take an oath and help the voter cast their ballot.  They can do everything to assist except the voter must sign the elector confirmation envelope and put the ballot in the box themselves.  The administrator of CAMA Woodlands told  CHCH that those people in the nursing home who are slightly cognitively impaired are capable of making decisions most of the time.

“So they would come into the voting area with the idea that they were going to vote. But if they’ve forgotten or if something else caught their mind that they didn’t know, the people in the polling station would ask they if they were familiar with voting? And they would go through a few questions for them. And if they really get confused, they would say ‘Why don’t you come back another time?’ And we can do it again a little later.”

Arlene told me that everyone at CAMA Woodlands will have the opportunity to vote and that the nursing home holds current event programs keeping residents up to date on election news.

CHCH will have extensive election coverage throughout the day Thursday and in the evening we’re bringing you “Your Home, Your Vote” — a special beginning at eight o’clock.
We’ll be following the election results live with a focus on ridings in Niagara, Hamilton and Halton as well as surrounding areas and the GTA. The CHCH election team will bring you live updates from the leaders’ party headquarters, and our “decision desk”. We’ll also have a panel of experts joining us. Once again, our special election coverage begins at 8pm and continues throughout the night until the results are in.