eight times the value of

As the federal election here in Canada approaches the midpoint, it no longer looks like the Liberal Party will get the majority they were after. In fact, the way the poll tracker shows, it is at present a toss-up if it will be a Conservative led minority or a Liberal led one. If it is a Conservative one, I think it is doubtful that many new policies would be enacted in law as the Conservative party has very little overlap with the tertiary parties.

I signed up to be an Information Officer at this election and I'll be on stand by this coming Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to fulfill this role at any Advanced Polling Place that calls and has a need. I am to show up at the central Elections Canada office of this riding by 8h and wait there until 11h. Those three hours are paid. If within that window I am summoned by an Advanced Polling Polling Place, I would then to go that Advanced Polling Place and fulfill the role of Information Officer. 

Had I signed up earlier, I would have been assigned to a specific Advanced Polling Place

In principle, the IO is responsible for saying, 'Bonjour, Hello', and then depending on the language used in the response, ask them if they have their voter card (that they would have received in the mail) and an ID card. If they have both, I can direct them to exactly the polling station since on their voter card the polling station number is clearly written. If they do not have their voter card I am to direct them to a registration desk where the person there will look them up and let them know which polling station they are to go to.

I am not to validate the ID that they bring, I just need to make sure they have one; it will be the deputy returning officer (the one working at the polling station) who validates the ID.

New for this election, as an IO, I would be asked to make sure people have masks, maintain as best as possible 2m distancing, and write down their name and phone number for the purposes of contact tracing.

As the IO, I may also be asked by the supervisor to help direct people into or out of the polling place, disinfect certain areas periodically, help set up the polling place before voting opens and help to take everything down when voting has ended. 

If I see an elector whom I think needs help I am to follow the A-L-D, first Ask if the person needs help, then Listen to what they say, and finally Do what they have asked. For example, assist a visually impaired person by lending an elbow to move towards the correct polling station.

On Election day, if I was to work it, at the end of voting I could be asked to be a 'Recorder'. The Counter (who during the voting was the deputy returning officer) opens the box that has the votes, takes a vote out  and says out loud who the vote is for, or if the vote is rejected, and then places it on the table. I as the recorder, check a little box on a form underneath the name of the person whose vote that was for. This is repeated for each vote in the box and the Counter makes different piles of vote slips, one for each of the six candidates in our riding. At the end of the box we compare the number of ticks I made with the number of voter slips, per candidate, and if it all checks out, we're good to go. If not, the slip count is the official, so those get recounted.

If the job I spoke about in my last post works out, my first day of work would be election day, so I would have to tell the elections office that I am no longer eligible to work; however, if they need any extra IOs to do the counting at any polling place following the end of voting, I would be available.