Any dead people who were counting on getting a ballot for this year’s Canadian Wheat Board election will probably be out of luck after this week.
Over the next few days, 53,000 permit-book holding farmers will receive in the mail a voter confirmation form for the upcoming election of wheat board directors.
The form will include the names of 32,000 so-called “interested parties” who are listed on those permit books.
There’s a chance a few of those interested parties may be in no condition to vote, and if so, it’s up to the actual producer to remedy the situation.
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“If an individual gets a confirmation that lists his father who has passed away three years ago, this is his opportunity to get that corrected,” said election co-ordinator Peter Eckersley of the consulting firm Meyers Norris Penny.
The inaugural wheat board election two years ago was marred by revelations that at least one ballot was sent to a dead person. Others were sent to lending agencies, government agencies, universities and individuals living in Toronto, San Antonio and Hong Kong who knew nothing about the election.
Interested parties are defined as individuals who are entitled to share in the proceeds of the sales of grain from a particular parcel of land. They may never seed a field, climb into a combine or haul a load of grain, but under the CWB Act, they have the right to vote for wheat board directors.
If there is incorrect information on the permit book, it will be up to the book holder to correct the mistakes and return the form to the co-ordinator’s office by the end of October.
Eckersley said the confirmation process is designed to put the onus on the permit book holder to ensure the information regarding interested parties is up-to-date and that everyone who is listed is eligible to vote before the final voters list is prepared.
“If it isn’t correct, we can’t be faulted for inaccurate information.”
Eckersley said he expects that only about 20,000 of the 32,000 interested parties named on the permit books will actually be eligible to vote. For example, an individual who rented land to five farmers will be listed as an interested party five times, but will be eligible to receive just one ballot.
The election co-ordinator has also distributed an alphabetical list of voters to all Meyers Norris Penny offices in electoral districts 2,4, 6, 8 and 10, along with offices in the other five districts that are close to the electoral boundaries.
