Municipal voters lined up for the first time at polls of their choice this morning, marking their ballots for the next city council.

And it seems that the general public is coming out in full force, with each polling station seeing a steady stream of voters.

Norma Felker, the city’s returning officer, said the polling stations seem busier than usual since most opened at 8:00 this morning, including a few she had not anticipated, like at the Yukon Transportation Museum.

“They’ve just been scrambling,” she said.

The morning has not been without a glitch or two, Felker acknowledged.

Voters who turned up at the Porter Creek poll first thing this morning were not able to immediately cast their ballot due to staffing issues after a few staff members couldn’t make it this morning.

While there is a list of additional potential staffers who can be called in, they had already been put on the job. Consequently, the ballot box didn’t make it to the polling station until more than an hour later.

Voters were not happy, Felker conceded.

For those who couldn’t vote at any other time through the day, she said, the city has arranged to bring the mobile poll to them.

At least one voter took to social media to express her frustration, arguing many lost their opportunity to have their say in the municipal election.

The voter noted that with the ballot box still not there by 9:15 a.m., she left.

Noting that poll clerks were on hand, and that ballots were available, the voter questioned: “Are we so constrained by ‘the correct way’ to do things that we can no longer think outside the box and find viable solutions to the problems/challenges that present themselves?”

This marks the first time the city is using an electronic system in the vote.

The system allows voters to go to any polling station they choose rather than the one closest to their home, as has been the case in the past.

A computer system in place for the election allows officials to cross off the names of voters as they come in to mark their ballots, thereby allowing voters to go to whatever poll they choose.

Voters are then given a ballot where they can mark an X next to their choice for mayor and up to six councillors.

The ballot is then fed electronically into a ballot box – with the machine’s screen declaring that the ballot has been submitted. It’s a stark contract to the cardboard ballot boxes that have been the standard for years.

Staffing glitches aside, Felker said the new system overall appears to be working well with many casting their ballots.

While advance polls last week saw a lower turnout than in 2012 – at 313 this year compared to a record 399 in 2012 – special ballots are up 50 per cent from the last election, with 370 voting by special ballot.

Anyone who hasn’t already voted has until 8:00 tonight to vote at most polling stations.

Locations include the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Vanier Catholic Secondary School, École Émilie-Tremblay, the church hall at the corner of Wann Road and Boxwood Street, the transportation museum, the Canada Games Centre  and  Yukon College.

Other polls are open for limited hours at the Yukon Government Main Administration Building (8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), city hall (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Whitehorse General Hospital (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Kwanlin Dün Potlatch House (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Macaulay Lodge (3:30 to 5:30 p.m.) and Copper Ridge Place (3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.).

Voters are reminded to bring photo identification and/or something showing their Whitehorse address if they have a post office box.

There is also an option for those who may not have ID, but meet all the voting requirements to swear an oath in order to vote.