Many New Brunswick residents will spend part of their weekend casting a ballot.
It is advance polling weekend for the upcoming provincial election on Oct. 21.
Kim Poffenroth, the province’s chief electoral officer, said there are some changes this time.
“Normally, people would be used to advance polls being on the Saturday and the Monday, but because of the Thanksgiving weekend, the polls will be on Saturday and Tuesday,” Poffenroth told our newsroom.
Voter information cards were mailed out to registered voters earlier this week. They contain information on when and where you will cast your ballot.
Bring your voter information card
Poffenroth said it is a good idea to bring that card with you when you head to the polling station.
“You don’t need your voter information card, but it will make the process even quicker at the polls,” she said.
“There’s a barcode on those cards, and they’ll scan that and you’ll be looked up very easy.”
If you do not receive a voter information card, Poffenroth said it means you may not be registered to vote. You can confirm by calling Elections NB at 1-888-858-8683.
Those who are not currently registered will need to bring some ID so polling staff can confirm their identity and address.
You will need to provide one or more pieces of ID that, between them, show your name, current address and signature.
A driver’s licence contains all three. Other options include lease agreements, utility bills, student IDs and a Medicare card.
You are not required to show ID when voting if you are already on the list of electors.
Typical voter turnout
Advance voter turnout typically ranges from 20 to 25 per cent, but Poffenroth said they saw a spike during the 2020 election due to COVID.
“We were encouraging people to vote early in order to flatten the election curve to spread out the number of people that were at the polls,” she said.
“I’m very curious, purely from a logistics standpoint, to see if that has created a change in people’s normal voting patterns, if we’re going to see a continued increase in the number of people voting in advance.”
Polling stations will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find your local polling station on the Elections NB website.
