Residents of the James Bay neighbourhood of Victoria, B.C. received new voting cards this week that moved their polling station closer to home.

Originally, James Bay residents like Shirley Roberts had to go to the Quality Inn on Blanshard Street to cast their ballots on Oct. 19. Roberts said that was a long, uphill walk with no direct transit access.

"I was concerned mostly for my elderly neighbours and also mums with small children and that sort of thing," Roberts told All Points West host Robyn Burns. "There's a lot of people who just couldn't get to that first polling booth."

The polling station has been moved to the James Bay New Horizons community centre right in the middle of the neighbourhood.

It would be about a 1.4 kilometre walk from the old location to the new one.

Roberts said she received no explanations from Elections Canada about either the far-flung original location or the change with only a few days left until the election.

"No explanation at all, and that would have been very helpful," she said. "I called and they just said, 'Nope, that's where you have to vote.'"

"The other option would have been to go to the Elections Canada office, but that's way down on Johnson Street. That's an even further distance."

Roberts said she was surprised by the new poll location, and she had already voted in advance polls.

She said if she knew she would be voting in her own neighbourhood, she would have voted on Oct. 19.

CBC tried to reach Elections Canada for comment, but did not receive a reply by deadline.

To hear the full story, click on the audio labelled: Victoria's James Bay residents get closer polling station