Only about 10 percent of the people dropped off the Canadian Wheat Board election voters list last month have obtained a ballot.
In mid-October, the government slashed about 16,500 names off the list, representing producers who hadn’t made deliveries to the CWB in 2005-06 or 2006-07.
Producers dropped from the list could obtain a ballot by filing a statutory declaration with the election co-ordinator, if they grew one of the seven qualifying grains or oilseeds during that time.
As of Nov. 17, only 1,620 had done so. Some declarations were still being processed and the final number could be around 1,650.
The voter turnout is slightly higher than at the same time in 2002, the last year a vote was held in the five odd-numbered electoral districts.
As of Nov. 17, a total of 7,266 ballots had been received, representing a return rate of 23.5 percent. At the same point four years ago the return rate was 21 percent.
Election co-ordinator Peter Eckersley said it stands to reason, given the removal from the voters list of producers who hadn’t done business with the board in the past two years.
