Where's my ballot for the Yellowknife municipal election?

With less than two weeks until votes in Yellowknife's municipal election are counted, some residents are wondering, where's my ballot?

Yellowknife is holding a vote-by-mail election for the first time.

This means everyone who was registered to vote by Sept. 22 should get a ballot sent to their address. They can either mail it back, drop it in a drop-box at city hall, or bring it to one of two so-called "voter assistance locations" on election day.

On Wednesday, the city announced it would add a second ballot drop-box to the mix. That drop-box will be open at the Multiplex from Oct. 11-16 between 3 p.m and 9 p.m. It also said it would offer free transit all day on election day.

The last day to vote is Oct. 17. Ballots received by the city after 7 p.m. that day won't be counted.

But, with seven business days to go before the deadline, several Yellowknifers reported that they hadn't yet received a ballot in their mailbox.

Rob Warburton, a council candidate, reached out to CBC expressing concern over the fact that he, and others, had yet to get a ballot in the mail. 

"We're 12 days away [from election day], with a long weekend in between," said Warburton.

"I am concerned about that not being near enough time, even if they show up today … to actually get mailed out and mailed back."

Warburton said he called the returning officer, and she told him the city hasn't yet received the ballots from the printer, and that the printer is in Alberta. 

In a statement Wednesday evening, the city said it was aware that residents had not yet received their mail-in ballots, and that it will "continue to monitor the progress of their arrival."

A spokesperson for the city told CBC "ballot kits have been sent to residents straight from the contractor, and residents can expect to receive their ballot kit in the mail any day."

'People should have ample opportunity to participate'

Council candidate Cat McGurk also voiced concerns about the mail-in ballots.

"I question the ability to have an effective election completed when we are offering mail-in as the primary option when voters will not even have two weeks to submit their ballots at this rate," McGurk wrote in an email to CBC Wednesday evening. 

"People should have ample opportunity to participate." 

The city said 7,591 ballots kits were mailed to eligible voters, and that the voters list currently has 7,700 names on it.

Eligible voters who aren't registered to vote, or who don't get a ballot in the mail, can still vote in person at either the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre or the Multiplex on election day, which is Oct. 17.

A spokesperson for Canada Post said people in Yellowknife should expect it to take two business days to deliver a piece of mail within the city. 

"We would recommend that the ballot kit be mailed in a street letter box for local mail (Yellowknife X1A) no later than 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13," said the spokesperson.