In many countries, you know an election has been held by the sudden appearance of purple index fingers on everyone you meet. In such countries, voting is compulsory, and non-voters face a fine. After voting, you avoid the fine by dipping your finger in ink. It is kind of charming. In Canada, you know that there is an election underway because I become cranky. Today, I voted in the advance poll for the referendum questions and am cranky.In the past, I have completed assignments to increase the efficiency and reduce the costs of industrial processes. My forte was efficiently blowing stuff up, but my repertoire was wider than that. I concluded this afternoon that, if time wasted is the goal of Elections Alberta, then they are close to overachieving on their objective.I assume instead that Elections Alberta is dedicated to whisking people in and out of the polling booth as quickly as possible while ensuring the integrity of the vote. The alternative is to assume that they are putting a finger on the electoral scales. I don’t want to believe that this is the case. So, what was the voting process?Upon entering the building, I was met by a young lady seated at a table doing nothing. Literally … nothing. Soon, a jovial older man came out to tell us that we could go this way or that way. It was reminiscent of the scarecrow giving directions to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I then joined a line of people mostly looking down and shuffling forward a few feet every minute like the opening scene of Metropolis. Maybe that is too melodramatic..Eventually, the line brought me to the room where questions were asked, ballots were apportioned, and votes were cast. I showed someone my driver’s licence, which was scanned and confirmed on a computer screen. I was then asked to answer three questions about my domicile, citizenship, and age, and then ten differently coloured ballots were signed by the person asking the questions. I was directed to a polling booth, and when my voting was completed, I took my ballots to the kind lady looking after the ballot boxes. She cautioned me not to put my vari-coloured ballots into the clearly marked, numbered, and coloured ballot boxes until she was ready for me. I waited, and she told me to ensure the ballots were signed and then to put each ballot into the box with the matching colour and number. It seemed straightforward and obvious.And then I was done.The rate of progress through the voting process should be determined by the speed at which voting booths are vacated. I estimate that the average voter took approximately five minutes to mark and deposit their ballots. Asking the three questions, verifying my identification, and giving me the ballots took about that length of time. So what was the hold-up? Half of those verifying identification were spending their time tearing, folding, and signing ballots. In one case, an ID verifier spent over 20 minutes doing a job that should have been done by others. Another ID verifier spent over ten minutes dealing with a declaration for someone not registered in the database (I assume). Again, this was a job that should have been done by others.Elections Alberta, perhaps you will consider the following small changes to speed the process up..First, the jovial older man and the girl with nothing apparent to do should ask the electors, as they come in, the three questions (age, domicile, and citizenship), ensure that each voter has appropriate identification, and stamp each voter’s hand if the answers are sufficient (or dip their fingers in ink if you want to be charming).Second, with fingers dipped or hands stamped, the electors enter the voting room to register with their pre-approved identification.Third, once identified, they are handed a packet of separated, folded, and signed ballots. Remember that everyone who is registering has answered the three questions. These packets can be prepared by the two people I saw who were reading their emails. I suppose they were supervisors, but they can tear, fold, and sign ballots as they supervise.Fourth, with ballots in hand, the voters are told to fill them in and then place them in the appropriate ballot box. There is not much need for supervision of voters as they deposit their ballots. Perhaps someone should be there to answer any questions and correct mistakes. And maybe tear, fold, and sign ballots..Fifth, undoubtedly, there will be some voters who are not registered in the computer database and so must sign a declaration. These people should be passed from the ID checker to a supervisor so that there is no undue delay in handling the other voters.Sixth, poll workers should receive specific training focused on processing voters smoothly and rapidly. Outside of scheduled breaks, speed of service will always be maintained.So, there you have it. It should not have taken 30 minutes to vote, given the light attendance at my polling station.Oh … and when you go to vote, the answer to question ten is option 2: the Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.
