June 29, 2004

The Election is Over...
Well, as you may have heard, the election is over (it was yesterday). That means that I'm done hiring people. In all, I think that I hired about 600 people. From parking attendants, to Central Polling Supervisors, and people to answer phones in the office. On the morning of the election, I only had to replace 10 people, which was a nice relief.
Yesterday, we all assembled at the office at 6A.M., and I sent out replacements to people who called in "sick" (or who simply didn't show up, and kept the ballot box at their house - a federal offense).
I spent half of the day in the office answering phones, and the other half of the day running supplies between the polling stations, and checking up on the CPS's (Central Polling Supervisor in Elections Canada lingo). There weren't too many problems, apart from the scrutineers who were bugging everyone. The lawyers ended up getting involved at two locations it was so bad.
In the evening I collected in the 183 voting boxes, as they were returned to the office.
Today we started to pack everything up. Literally everything is supposed to be sent back to Ottawa. Most of it will be shredded (including unused forms that are no longer in their original wrapping). The amount of paper that is wasted is incredible. I keep telling myself that I'm supporting the BC pulp and paper industry. It's not doing too well right now thanks to the States, and the tarifs that they've put on Canadian softwood lumber. So much for NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), but then I'm writing about the election, and not politics.

No comments: