The good news: Canadians showed up to vote in advanced polls over the long weekend in greater numbers than they ever have before.
The bad news: Elections Canada didn't seem to make it quick and painless for the 3.6 million who'd made their decisions and wanted to cast a ballot before Oct. 19.
Here on the North Shore we received numerous complaints about polling stations with a single voting booth open, lineups of an hour or more, inadequate staffing and poorly printed ballots causing confusion about whether they'd be considered spoiled or not.
We tried to raise these issues with Elections Canada but it seems their "staffing up" for media requests has also fallen short as no one is picking up the phone.
On one hand, we believe an hour's wait to vote is no big deal in the grand scheme of things, especially when you consider the much longer waits in far worse conditions with constant threats of violence voters endure in less fortunate places in the world.
But this isn't Afghanistan. It's Canada.
And we should be better at this by now, considering it's the 42nd time Canadians have voted in a federal general election. Also, with voter turnout trending downward in the country, we really ought to be making voting easier, not harder.
We hope the advanced voting experience is not a preview of what to expect on election day. Elections Canada has a few more days to get its act together.
Remember, our polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 19 and by law, your employer must ensure you have three consecutive hours available to vote.
And no matter how long the lineup is, we promise, it will be well worth the wait.
