Latest news with #votingprocess
CBC
30-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Elections Canada workers say issues in 2 Cape Breton offices made April vote a 'nightmare'
Several Elections Canada workers in a newly reconfigured Nova Scotia riding say a number of issues made April's voting process a "nightmare" for poll workers and voters alike. The complaints were brought forward by a handful of people who staffed two offices in the riding of Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish. The riding takes in all of Cape Breton Island outside of the new urban riding of Sydney-Glace Bay, as well as all municipal units found within Antigonish and Guysborough counties. Liberal candidate Jaime Battiste, who had served two terms in the former Sydney-Victoria riding, won the newly redrawn district on April 28. While the Elections Canada workers who spoke to CBC do not dispute the result, they are critical of their offices' employee training, inaccurate election materials that were also in short supply, and lengthy delays in receiving payment. 'There was a lot of pressure' Megan Rankin of Lower River Inhabitants, Richmond County, was originally hired as a service agent for the Port Hawkesbury Elections Canada office. But on the day of her orientation session, she was abruptly reassigned to be the office co-ordinator, she said. Rankin, who had previously worked in provincial electoral offices, said she immediately sensed a lack of communication and organization as the April 20 advance poll approached. "Because this election was important to so many, there was a lot riding on it to make sure everything worked out really well. So there was a lot of pressure," she said. "Somebody would come in and tell you what you were supposed to be doing, and you'd be doing it, and someone else would come right in after them and say, 'No, no, scrap that, you're not supposed to be doing that, we need something else done.'" Rankin said the confusion extended to voters, with some sent to polling stations several kilometres out of their way. Elections Canada cards mailed to voters in St. Peter's, in eastern Richmond County, advised them to travel to a polling station in St. Francis Harbour, Guysborough County. Multiple polling stations were established in small communities, while larger neighbouring communities had only a single polling station. Elections Canada did not respond to the specific complaints when contacted by the CBC to address the workers' concerns. Communications officer Matthew McKenna said in a statement only that late-campaign staff vacancies were filled by a new assistant returning officer and co-ordinator brought in from outside Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish. Rankin said she feels a lack of knowledge — both at the local and national levels — about the new riding's size hindered the efficiency of the process. "We had over 200 polls, from advance polls to the regular polling. And we ran from Antigonish right up to Neils Harbour, and Louisbourg, and all the little places in between. And we had to make sure they had all the right materials," she said. "So, logistically, it was a nightmare." Payment delays frustrate election workers Lisa Skinner, one of two central poll supervisors in her home community of Arichat, echoed Rankin's concerns about low morale, poor office organization and placement of polling stations in areas outside of their traditional communities. Skinner also criticized a payment system that meant some workers didn't receive their remuneration until nearly two months after the federal campaign ended. She said the 2025 election was the third straight federal vote that was followed by lengthy payment delays. "When I called the Elections Canada payroll line, they were very quick to blame the Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish returning office," Skinner said. She said she received calls from numerous election workers wondering when their paycheques would arrive. While Skinner said workers were told in the early stages of the campaign that their pay might not arrive quickly, she asserted that Elections Canada has to "do better" in future votes. "You might not be shovelling dirt or you might not be out on a fishing boat, and everybody says 'Oh, you're working in an office,' but it's still hard work. It's mentally draining, and we work hard," Skinner said.
Sky News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Conclave live: Cardinals locked inside Sistine Chapel for next round of voting
Some of the experts and guests we've had on Sky News have used the phrase "moving day". It touches on the intricate dynamics of the secretive voting process and how it unfolds in real time, with frontrunners rising and falling. In short, "moving day" refers to how the cardinals' votes move from one candidate to another as the successive ballots show where support is coalescing and where it is thinner. Here Sky News commentator Alastair Bruce and Father Stephen Wang, rector of the Venerable English College in Rome, explain this key part of the voting process. Momentum reaching critical mass? Bruce says: "There are people who are heavily promoted at the beginning and do well, and yet they don't quite have the impetus to get to the top. "What can happen is a lesser-known name can do increasingly well and votes spill off the ones who were doing well at the beginning and suddenly the lesser-known cardinal gets momentum. "What tends to happen is about now we tend to see who is getting momentum. "This afternoon should solve that. The momentum may reach a result, it may not. "If it doesn't by tonight, I expect by tomorrow morning... after a good breakfast, we might see a result." 'Very important shifts behind the scenes' Father Wang adds to this, saying: "It's a very interesting time in the process for the cardinals, after the third ballot. "Let's just say, for example, I had someone I was convinced of, and I may have voted for him three times now, and I'm seeing he's getting four or five votes, but it's not going up. "It's not realistic he's going to have enough consensus around him from other cardinals, this is just the moment I might be thinking I need to let go of my first choice and look at the others who have a bit more momentum and support them. "There will be some very important shifts going on behind the scenes now."
Fox News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
College of Cardinals meet Wednesday, could elect a new pope within hours, days
The upcoming papal conclave has experts engaged in fervent discussion about the Catholic church's sacred voting process will unfold While some Vatican watchers suggest we could see a longer than usual conclave, others have signaled they think it will be short, like it has been during the last handful of times. 'Maximum three days,' predicted Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez. However, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany, said he expects the conclave 'won't go as quickly as the last conclave.' The the diversity of this year's conclave has also commanded attention, as well as the fact that many cardinals are unfamiliar with each other, which could lead to a lengthier vote than during recent conclaves of the past. The vast majority of the 133 cardinal-electors will be participating in a conclave for the first time, according to Reuters, which noted around 80% of the participants were appointed by Pope Francis. Meanwhile, per the Religion News Service, this conclave's College of Cardinals is the most geographically diverse in centuries. 'I wouldn't panic if we don't have a pope by the end of day two, but if there still isn't any white smoke by the end of the third day, then we start to get worried,' said Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and Vatican commentator.
