Why is voting by special ballot so different than voting in person?

Newfoundland is just about to have its second fixed term election. And, like the last one, voting day will be in October, October 11 to be precise.

Of course, in many ways the switch to fixed term elections mean that voting day doesn't quite mean what it used to. It is no longer the case that voting need be confined to the short campaign period after the election has been called until the end of the election.

It seems that it is now possible to vote as early as August 22, if you want to vote by special ballot. This change amazes me because it means that it is now possible to vote before the election has been called or nominations are closed. People are being allowed to vote before they can hope to know the potential candidates for among whom they might be choosing.

Oh, and if you are voting by special ballot and you actually want to wait long enough to see a list of confirmed candidates (nominations close on October 1) you have about four days to make your decision as your ballot needs to be received by October 5. The reality for those of us forced to rely on an unreliable postal system to submit our ballots is that we will have to vote before we can see a list of confirmed candidates.

Could they not, at a later date, just add the special ballots to the votes cast on election day? Would this be so hard? Would it delay the ability to confirm the results by more than a few days?

It is frustrating that even with all of this lead up and the ability to start casting special ballots more than a month before the election that the system still isn't particularly attuned to the needs of individuals voting by special ballot.

Not that my opinions count for much, but if I had the ability to change things I wouldn't hesitate to make the following changes:

1) Increase the time between the final confirmation of candidates and election day. It might make sense to have this date coincide with the commencement of media advertising.

2) Disallow voting before the election writs have been issued and candidate nominations confirmed.

3) Accept special ballots that are post-marked or delivered in-person on or before election day.

4) Work with the post office to facilitate the prompt collection and delivery of mail ballots.

5) Eliminate the deadline to apply for a special ballot.

Generally, at least to me, it seems that we should making it easier to cast informed votes would be a move in the right direction.