Campobello Island Map
When your municipality is an island, certain things such as elections, need a little more planning.
Municipal Returning Officer for the district of Charlotte, Mary Casement says Campobello has a unique situation with no available ferry to the mainland, and challenges with crossing the border through the United States.
For several years, the only way to get to Campobello Island has been to cross two international borders, through the US, and travel by bridge to the Canadian island.
Casement tells us in order to avoid any complications with delays, or risk confidentiality with elections, they charter a boat to take everything, and everyone, to the island.
She says the provincial election of 2018 was the first time they chartered a boat for an election, but said it was successful, and was the most secure and reliable way to ensure residents get to vote.
“Because of the regulations that would allow customs officials to open our computers and look at the data, which is all confidential data, as well as post-election, we bring the ballot boxes back so those are totally sealed and can only be unsealed by someone official in the courts, so now we take everything over by boat.”
She says since there is no available ferry, their only option is to charter a private boat.
Casements says they charter from one of the local tour companies and leave from the Saint Andrews Wharf, since that is where the municipal returning office is for Charlotte County.
“They take our staff, and all our supplies over. We unload over there and truck it up to our polling stations. Then at the end of the event, we pack it all up, run it down to the wharf, back on to the boat, and sail back home with it.”
Casement says there are three initial sailings, the first one is for the Elections NB trainer and all of the training supplies to go over in order to train the poll workers in their various positions, the second is for the advanced polls, and a third for Election Day.
As for what kinds of things they need to bring with them on the boat: a number of small notebook computers, all forms, manuals, training kits, tabulation machines, ballots, as well as staff members.
They may also need an additional boat trip for special voting officers, who go to individuals’ homes, nursing homes and special care homes, specifically for those residents who aren’t able to get out and vote due to health reasons.
For the most part, Casement says the process is a preventative measure, but there have been a few “comments” from various customs officials when crossing the border during past elections.
“Some of the… sort of off-hand comments, that I think were supposed to be humorous, were a bit alarming. We thought, ‘oh, we can not take that chance’, so it is primarily a preventative measure. We simply can’t take the risk of not being there in time with all the appropriate and confidential supplies and information for people to vote. Plus, we can’t jeopardize the secrecy and the privacy of their votes when they come back.”
There is also a cost for chartering so many boat trips to and from the island.
Casement says they pay roughly three hours billing time for each trip, that includes both trips to and from the island, as well as time for unloading, and it typically costs about $300 an hour.
Advance polling for the upcoming municipal by-election will be held on Saturday, April 27th, from 10am to 8pm.
The polling station on Campobello Island will be held at St. Anne’s Anglican Church Hall.
Blacks Harbour is the only other municipality in Charlotte County taking part in the by-election, that polling station will be held at the Eastern Charlotte Regional Fire Service Hall at 72 Wallace Cove Road.
The municipal by-election will be held on May 6th, 2019.
