Voting location questioned

A Kelowna man is wondering if the location of one of the voting stations used during Saturday's provincial election might have discouraged some people from casting their ballot.

Regan Fletcher says he has filed a complaint with Elections BC over the decision to host a polling station at 442 Leon Avenue, at the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society.

"My question is, how a crisis centre for homelessness on the most dangerous section in all of Kelowna was allocated as a safe voting location?" Fletcher asked.

He says when he visited the location to park there were dozens of street people on the block, something not unusual for that part of the neighbourhood.

While he was walking back to his vehicle after voting, he says two elderly women flagged him down and asked that he escort them to the polling station.

"She goes, 'we're too afraid to go down. Would you walk us there?'" Fletcher said, explaining that the two women told him that they had been parked near the polling station for 30 minutes, too afraid to walk past the crowd of people in front of the polling station.

He escorted the ladies inside the voting station but was left wondering why this spot was chosen?

Fletcher says he didn't see a security guard until he was inside the building. When he asked about the choice of location he was told by Elections BC that if he didn't like it, he was free to go to another location.

"How many people were too afraid to enter the building and didn't vote?" Fletcher asked, suggesting that regardless of political stripe, others were put off by the voting location.

He says he typically votes Conservative and his ex-partner votes NDP.

"I talked to my ex-wife, she took our son to go see her vote, and my son was too scared to get out of the car. So she had to go home, drop him off and come back. We have a difference of opinions but both sides got pushed away," says Fletcher.

In a statement, Elections BC says they select voting places based on a variety of factors, including population density and availability of facilities that meet accessibility standards.

"Under B.C.’s 'vote anywhere' model, voters can vote at any voting place in the province. Voters can also vote at any district electoral office or by mail," says Elections BC spokesperson Wesley MacInnis.