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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1977-06-08, Page 20a new, Old. Fashioned Bargains 1st Anniversary 11 8 14 / GROCERY SPECIALS Silverwoods Canadian Deluxe- co ICE CREAM 2 litres Reg. 2.23 -11- Libby 14 oz. Reg DEEP BROWN BEAN S .49 39' Schneiders Bright /. WIENERS - Reg. .99 69c TOMATO JUICE48 ozs.Reg-' -79G 59c Schneiders BOLOGNA Reg. $1 .19 89e MIRACLE WHIP 32 oz. '1.29 Maxwell House COFFEE Ground Roast Reg. 3.79 $ $3.99 PEPSI COLA 26 oz. 4/$1 Finale clearance of Hardware, Clothing & Footwear Fantastic Reductions Of Up To C Saturday,June 11 ONLY Men's Steel Toe WORK BOOTS $15 Ir New Summer Hates, ClOsed Sunday Open every day - 9 - 6 Open Friday - 9 - 8 . ranbrook p, neral Store *-- ur - „ pAsk FIR SU B (Mir BO BIR MAI IN CO CA .25 [pea 20—THE BRUSSSELS POST, JUNE 8, 1977 Voting the story behind the scenes Make it simple, make it fair, make it efficient. That's the approach of the Ontario Election Office to the mechanics of ensuring Ontario's approximately 5 million eligible voters get the best chance possible to exercise their franchise on June 9. Ballots, ballot boxes, forms and voting rules - they are the result of years of trial and error, study and improvement. "The improvements we've made mean a fairer democratic process, and one more efficient and rational than ever before," says Roderick Lewis, Ontario's Chief Election Officer. In Ontario's 31st general election on June 9, it is at the polling place that the voters get a glimpse of this aspect of Ontario's modern election system. What they see as they cast their ballot, and the rules governing the process, are a long leap from even a generation ago. For instance: — a deputy returning officer will put the marked ballot into a box of lightweight plastic, of modern design, and Capable of being strip sealed with tape. This compares with the heavy metal ballot boxes used a few years ago that resembled strong-boxes. — In the voting compartments ensuring complete privacy, the voter will unfold a ballot that is easy to read and understand, simple to mark without spoiling the ballot and fair to all the candidates. That compares with ballots of previous years that could be confusing, and in some cases, unfair to candidates. — As for rules, voters can use a pencil provided in the compartment or use their own pen or pencil. The vote counts sol long as the mark — preferably an , "X" -- is made in the circle after one candidate's name. That sounds straightforward and not revolutionary. But it's a leap forward from the days when the use of a pen would cause rejection of a ballot, and when your mark on the form had to be a "cross". If it wasn't a cross of some kind, the vote often was thrown out and not counted. "The evolution of ballot boxes, ballots and voting rules has been a slow process," says Mr. Lewis, who is working on his ninth general election. , The present ballot boxes date only from the 1971 election. Prior to that, Ontario relied on borrowed federal boxes plus sonic of its own. This was a chancy arrangement, since a federal election could be called for the same period as an Ontario vote. Mr. Lewis' father -- Alex C. Lewis, Chief Election Officer from 1939 to 1954 -- discov ered just how chancy it was following the Second World War. When federal and Ontario elections in 1945 almost coincided, Mr. Lewis had to make a rush purchase of military ammunition boxes from Ottawa, had them drilled with ballot slots, rivetted with clasps and equipped with locks, In the late 1960s, the Ontario I Election Office was se t up on a I permanent basis on Lombard I Street, in downtown Toronto, For the first time, election !naterial and equipment -- including ballot boxes -- had adequate storage. "This made it possible for us to I order our own ballot boxes and keep them from election to • election, rather than trying to find storage space in the basement of • the Parliament Buildings," Rod Lewis says, It also eliminated` lost and strayed boxes. "We used to find old boxes in, local, court houses around the province," Mr. Lewis says. "One time, we found 20 of them hidden behind a wall of a municipal building that was being demolished." The heavy, safe-like, metal ballot boxes have given way to the present lightweight plastic boxes that can be stacked five together in cartons for shipping and storing. Ballot boxes, once voting begins on election cpy, must be secured (locked an0' sealed) until vote are to be counted and must be secured again for transporting to returning officers for final, offical vote counts. The safeguard on the present plastic box is a strip seal that can't peel off without destroying the seal. Workers in each polling place have two sets of seals -- one sealing the box during the vote, another to seal it before deli very to the returning officer, "The traditional metal and lock weren't really necessary for ballot boxes," Mr. Lewis says. "They must only be able to stand up to wear and, weather , and don't have to look like a burglar-proof safe." The ballot, on which voters make their choices from among candidates, has undergone a substantial change too, along with the rules governing what is a "good" ballot -- one that will count in the vote, and what is a "bad" one -- a ballot that is marked improperly and will be rejected during the vote count. The present ballot lists candidates alphatbetically by surname -- names numbered one, two, three and so on, to help voters who may be unfamiliar with the language, to find their candidate. Candidates' names are printed so that they all line up on the right, flush against the circles (white circles against a black background) in which the voter makes his mark. "This design, and all the experimentation that went into it over many years, isn't just a frivolous, fussy matter," Mr. s"" Lewis points out. "Voters must make a mark in the circle opposite the candidate of their choice. Before Ave lined up names flush against the circles, we were getting marks made in the black space following a short name. The present format is designed to be fair to candidates and of course ensure that the voter actually casts his vote as he intended to do." Voters, entering a polling place on election day, are given a ballot -- after • the deputy returning officer and poll clerk have checked the name on the list of eligible voters. Within a small cardboard voting screen which ensures complete privacy, ihr voter marks the ballot preferably with an "X" , hands the folded ballot to the deputy returning officer who drops it in the ballot box. What happens if you inadvertently mark an "X" in circle you didn't intend? The' procedure is simple. Take the; ballot to the deputy returnini officer who will mark 11° "Cancelled" and give you ballot form. THE CURIO GIFT SHOP Atwood Welcome to the Opening Fri.,Sat.June 10&11 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Olive Cunningham Ci n 11 rquIU 77 7 missi the ductil natiodJ stival S‘ 111111U 9th silabh BOX189 etroi eade 15 p 10:00 $15 Aug.l BF Week Each $37.01 Ch nun pho Woi FIR SUE