It's all about colour

Elections Canada Promotion
(Source: http://ckpmfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/elections-canada-ready-to-vote.png)

Elections Canada signage at Poling station
(Source: http://wpmedia.montrealgazette.com/2015/09/elections-canada-opened-their-offices-in-the-nav-centre-on-t.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=840&h=630&crop=1)

Canada is getting towards the end of the federal election campaign. According to its website, "Elections Canada is the independent, non-partisan agency responsible for conducting federal elections and referendums." (Source: http://www.elections.ca/home.aspx)

Part of the agency's mandate is to ensure that the process is not only free and fair, but also maintains the appearance of being free and fair.

Therefore one of the things that Elections Canada monitors is the presence of election material; signs, posters etc., within a certain distance of the polling stations. No one; staff, scrutineers, or voters, is permitted to wear any partisan pin, badge, tee-shirts etc. inside the polling station.

This prohibition on perceived partisanship also extends to the clothing worn by the staff and scrutineers in the polling stations. Each of the five major political parties in Canada has its own colour. Two shades of blue, green, orange, and red.

And that is why I saw lots of black, white, and grey clothes.

It is interesting that Elections Canada also uses colour as part of its branding. Burgundy for its web site and more "official"  communications, but yellow when it comes time to get out the vote and tell people where to cast their ballot.

I voted at an advance poll yesterday, and was a bit surprised at how busy it was. I heard that at some polling stations the wait was over an hour. It just shows that, despite the mind-numbing length of this campaign, people are still interested in participating.