To the editor,
First of all, congratulations to Sheila Malcolmson for her recent NDP victory for the Nanaimo byelection and for those who helped in this regard.
My main concern is the border line of the Nanaimo-North Cowichan electoral district. My wife and I always vote when an election comes around here in Nanaimo, regardless of the level of government seeking out a new term.
On the day of the byelection Jan. 30, we left home to go and vote. Albeit we did not receive our voting cards. We went to the usual place to vote, Georgia Avenue School in Harewood. No polling station. We left there and thought maybe the Salvation Army Church at the corner of Bruce and Eighth Street would be the polling station. We were directed to Fairview School and upon arrival there, we were told we could not vote. Also there were three other couples who came in to vote at the same time and they were also turned away, all because we were not within the electoral boundary. We were shocked and felt left out of the voting system all because of a change in the electoral boundary several years ago. We were not aware of that boundary at this time.
Our district here in Nanaimo south is the Nanaimo-North Cowichan riding. This is wrong and I’m sure Malcolmson would have received many more votes had the southern part of Nanaimo been included.
We pay taxes to the City of Nanaimo, we buy our groceries, petroleum products, products and services here in Nanaimo. We are part of this community, yet we are left out on a byelection for the Nanaimo area. Why are we zoned to the Nanaimo-North Cowichan electoral district when we really have nothing to do with North Cowichan area?
As a resident here in Nanaimo, I am asking our new member of the legislative assembly for the Nanaimo riding to bring this issue up in the legislature and work towards getting the electoral boundary changed back to where it used to be or at least have it moved southward to include all the city of Nanaimo.
R.J. Butchart, Nanaimo
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The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.