Many voters made use of the drive-thru in P.A. Wednesday. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

civic election

Drive-thru voting proves popular with P.A. voters

Oct 30, 2020 | 8:00 AM

It appears advance voting by vehicle is proving popular with the Prince Albert electorate ahead of the Nov. 9 civic elections.

The second of six days of drive-thru voting goes from 3 p.m. today. On Wednesday, 498 electors visited the special polling station set up at the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre (PAEX). The drive-thru method is preferred by P.A. election officials to minimize potential exposure at voting stations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a slow start to proceedings Wednesday morning which saw wait times of around an hour with many vehicles lining up before the 10 a.m. opening. However, returning officer with paVOTES Sherry Person, said things improved to an average wait time of 30 minutes through the day.

“Each vehicle took around two and a half minutes to get through,” she told paNOW. “We’ve had great positive feedback and election officials at the poll are working very hard to get the voters through.”

Person added there is plenty of room in the PAEX parking lot to accommodate the vehicle line ups and they are displaying wait times on a mobile electronic sign on Sixth Avenue.

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A mobile electronic sign will post estimated wait times for the drive-thru advance voting at the PAEX. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

“We are making sure we keep it updated to advise voters what the estimated wait times are so if they only have a 15-minute coffee break [for example] they can check it out before they come down,” she said.

The next advance voting opportunity runs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today. There are four other voting days after that. Information can be found here.

Person also reminded voters that on Election Day, Nov. 9, there will be free public transit to assist those without access to a vehicle.

—

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow