91-year-old veteran says he was denied right to vote in Ontario's election, despite having proper ID

At 91-years-old, veteran Charles Parent says he's voted in every single Ontario election, even casting a ballot from overseas while serving in Europe. 

But this winter snap election marked a first for him. 

Parent says he was denied his right to vote despite bringing proper ID to his polling station in the riding of Bay of Quinte— and his family fears many others were turned away for the same reason. 

"I've never missed a vote. This is the first one I missed and I was upset," Parent told CBC Toronto. 

According to Elections Ontario, people can vote as long as they have a voter information card and a one piece of ID showing their name, which Parent did.

But Parent's daughter, Susan Hyndman, told CBC Toronto a polling worker said his voter information and health cards weren't enough, suggesting he go home and get another form of ID with his address on it.

"He also said that we weren't the first. He said, 'We turned many away for this particular reason,'" Hyndman said. 

Election Ontario's website says Parent would have needed an ID with an address only if he didn't have his voter information card, which wasn't the case.  

Assuming the polling worker must have been correct, the rest of his family voted while Parent waited and eventually left. 

If it had been a warm summer day they would have likely returned, Hyndman said, but bad weather already made it a challenge for them to leave the house with Parent, who uses a walker. 

"By the time we got home, we weren't going back out again," she said. 

But for Parent, there was also a layer of frustration. 

"I didn't feel like coming back, put it that way," he said. "People…should be trained properly" 

Nikole Hyndman, Parent's granddaughter, immediately tried to fix the situation when she heard about what had happened, but to no avail.