Voting Day at Hannah Pederson’s home in Vernon is like a football game day.
There might even be a pot of chili cooking on the stove tonight as she and her partner settle in to watch the federal election results roll in when the polls out west close at 7 p.m.
“My partner is a huge football fan and that’s where the (game day) comparison comes in,” said Pederson, 30, after marking her ballot early Monday afternoon, Sept. 20, at the Vernon Secondary School polling station. “We care about our country and we’re excited to see what happens so it’s definitely something we follow throughout the day.”
A graduate of Kalamalka Secondary School who recently returned home to the North Okanagan, Pederson cast her ballot during a busy run before 2 p.m. at VSS. She loves Voting Day, even if there’s no chili involved.
“I’ve voted since I was able to vote. I love it because I just believe in the right to vote and I believe we’re allowed to have different opinions,” said Pederson, a big fan of engaging in political discussion and learning from people who support different parties than her.
“It’s good to learn about the other side of things,” she said. “Everyone has one or two things they really care about from a party, and you might not really know about those things so when they share that you learn from it. It just makes us all more well-rounded people I think.”
In the North Okanagan-Shuswap Riding, Conservative two-term incumbent Mel Arnold is trying to hold off challenges from Kyle Delfing (People’s Party of Canada), Shelley Desautels (Liberals), Andrea Gunner (Green Party), and Ron Johnston (NDP).
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