Thousands of BC Liberals still don’t have PINs to vote
Posted February 25, 2011 11:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC Liberals will get to vote for their new leader Saturday despite many not receiving voting packages.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of members didn’t receive their personal ID numbers in the mail. They need those PINs to vote, and they jammed party help lines trying to get answers.
Party brass eventually said the vote would be held, and anyone still without a PIN can call the help line.
Though he’s not a member of the BC Liberal party, political analyst Sean Holman with Public Eye Online says he called that number Thursday night. “I rang them and no one was picking even though it was during their supposed office hours,” he says. “My phone call actually got routed to a voice mailbox that was full.”
The company in charge of the PINs says the numbers were put in the mail a week ago. Party members in the north and the Interior are said to be the ones most affected by this issue, though some Lower Mainland party members have also said they haven’t received their PINs.
Problem leaves members frustrated
One of our Twitter followers Erica Enstrom has been a Liberal party member for more than two years. She still doesn’t have her PIN.
She says she managed to get through on the help line, but they couldn’t find her information. “I spelled my name several times, and they were unable to locate the record of my membership, so she took my address and telephone number, and said that someone would call me with the PIN. She was not able to give me a timeline of when that might happen.” Enstrom says she is still hoping to vote.
Norman Stowe, who’s running Kevin Falcon’s campaign, says they’re confident the problem will be fixed. “Between what the campaign organizations are doing and what the party has started to do by ramping up the help lines and increasing the hours and increasing the staffing.”
Mike de Jong says he’s confident too, but notes it’s a little frustrating after three months of campaigning and inviting people to join the party.
Abbott favours delaying vote
Meanwhile, George Abbott says it’s an embarrassment, and the party should be considering a delay.
Abbott is disappointed the decision to go on with the vote was made without knowing exactly how many people are affected by the PIN issue. “We still haven’t had a satisfactory answer to that question. We certainly are prepared to consider a delay of this.”
He admits it may be hard to tell if the results will be valid, but says he won’t take legal action if he loses. “I think it’s important that whoever is elected is elected by the party and that we emerge from the day united.”
Results could be thrown into question
Public policy professor Doug McArthur says depending how many people can’t vote because of the PIN issue, the legitimacy of the winner will come into question.
He says some are even comparing it to how the party handled the HST. “Reminds people of sort of the incompetence and the failure to be able to do things right. And that’s not a good way to start the term of a new leader,” he notes.
He says it’s pretty embarrasing for the party, but if the PIN issue gets resolved in time, he says he whole issue may just blow over.
Party members can vote Saturday over the phone or online from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you still haven’t received your PIN, the number to call is 1-888-281-8683 (toll free).
You can call during these hours:
7:00am to 9:00pm PST on Friday February 25
5:00am to 5:00pm PST on Saturday, February 26
Last minute website to connect members with PINs
The Liberals have launched a last minute website in hopes of getting those PINless members signed up. The site launched around 7 pm Friday.
Chad Pedersen with the party says members can enter their registered phone number and will get an automated call back with a PIN. “The response so far has been quite positive.”
He says people who are having issues with the site can call the helpline.
