Several hundred people, largely University of Guelph students, remained lined up outside the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre Guelph after the 9:30 p.m. deadline for voting on Monday evening.
As polls officially closed, a security guard was positioned at the back of the line – anyone who arrived prior would be allowed to vote, explained Carrie Nethery, central poll supervisor. The Delta hotel is the closest polling station to the university.
There are no poling stations on campus for this election. Morgan Burges, an 18-year-old University of Guelph student, was near the front of the line outside the hotel at 9:30 p.m. She said she'd been waiting about two hours at that point but is determined to cast her vote.
"I do want to add my input, I do want to vote because it's going to affect me," Burges said of the election's importance. "I wish there was some voting stations on campus. I feel like it would have been a lot faster."
A caller to GuelphToday said that those who were pre-registered could vote with relative ease, but university students who needed to register at the location were the ones having to wait.
Guess I shld have done early voting! I have been to my polling station Delta Guelph 3x!! Line ups huge & not moving. I am impressed to see so many young people Many cars are just driving Thru I cant wait an hour or more-is it like this everywhere? @LloydLongfield @MikeSchreiner
— Kim Andrews 🇨🇦 (@KimA_5) September 20, 2021
Long line at the Delta to vote. If you have a voter's card, it's a quick in and out. But for those who don't, the line to register is long. Seems to be mostly students! Shout out to the #uog students for getting out to vote. #guelph #ElectionsCanada #Election2021 #ElectionDay
— SqueezeGirl (@SqueezeGirl) September 20, 2021
