Poll workers had to get creative to ensure all residents in Dawson City, Yukon had an equal opportunity to vote in the upcoming federal election, after the ice bridge connecting West Dawson to the main town closed early.
On Monday, election officials in Dawson City flew by helicopter across the Yukon River to set up an impromptu early voting booth — using a folding table and a pickup truck.
“There are still people crossing, but it’s considered not safe,” said Gabriela Sgaga, one of the election day poll supervisors in Dawson City. “And so there are some people who are not crossing … so it was an opportunity for them to come and vote.”
The Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works announced on April 7 that the ice bridge connecting Dawson City to West Dawson was closed for the season due to rain and warm weather. The federal election will take place on April 28.
“We’ve been encouraging people on the west side of the river to vote at my office in Dawson since the start of the election because we were concerned that the bridge was going to come out a little earlier than Election Day or advanced polls,” said Michael Lauer, returning officer with Elections Canada in the Yukon.
After the closure, West Dawson residents were left wondering how they would make it to the main to town to vote, says Sgaga, who lives in West Dawson herself, but has been staying in Dawson City ahead of the election.
The make-shift polling station allowed people to vote by special ballot, which are open to all eligible voters across the country.
“We set up the booth sort of on a folding table that I brought along. And we had the actual voting booth on the back of the tailgate of a truck … So we had the privacy screen on the back of the tailgate, which I thought was very Dawson style,” Sgaga said.
Lauer says 22 people came out to vote at the station. Sixteen of those voters were from Dawson and six were national electors or voters living outside of the Yukon.
Sgaga says she had a great time helping her neighbours cast their vote.
“I think it was definitely quite a crowd and some people came down just to hang out because it was quite the social event. Everybody was quite tickled.”
