Former council candidate asking for review of election process

HALIFAX – A former candidate who ran unsuccessfully in the last municipal election is calling for a review of the electoral process.

Andrew Curran said the Municipal Elections Act is supposed to make sure things run fairly, but he noticed many anomalies during–and after–his campaign. Curran ran in District 10 last fall, but lost to long-time councillor Russell Walker.

In his opinion, Curran said one area in need of improvement is the number of people who are hired to work during elections.

“I think more training may go a long way as well,” said Curran. “I heard stories from some folks who said they didn’t know their jobs very well.”

As well, he said he heard many complaints about polling station locations. According to Curran, some senior voters in District 10 didn’t vote because they couldn’t make the trip to their designated polling stations at Mount Saint Vincent University.

“Some of the seniors I spoke to were going to have to take two buses to get down the Bedford Highway, get off on the wrong wide of the highway, cross the street with their walkers, go up a big hill and then, take an elevator to the third floor to get to the room!” said Curran.

He said other problems include that on election day, political signs were being placed too close to polling stations and the city’s enumeration lists did not seem up-to-date.

Curran said he doesn’t hold a grudge about his loss, and simply wants to sit down with officials to discuss his experience in hopes of coming up with ways to improve the process for all future council candidates.