City of Toronto ready for its October 27 election

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  October 2, 2014        

              

City of Toronto ready for its October 27 election

The City of Toronto today announced its plans for the October 27 municipal election, including what's new, voting days and accessible services.

"In less than a month, over 1.6 million eligible electors will be able to cast a ballot to elect a mayor, city councillor and school trustee," said Ulli S. Watkiss, City Clerk. "This year, 606 candidates have been certified and will stand for election – 65 candidates for mayor, 358 candidates for councillor and 183 trustee candidates for the four school boards."

"There is a tremendous amount of planning that goes into an election of this size," said Bonita Pietrangelo, Director of Elections and Registry Services. "Many hours have gone into the preparation of this year's election. Our team has worked diligently to meet all our election requirements and we have implemented many new initiatives to help make voting easier and more accessible for all electors."

For this election, the City has introduced a new voting place model, which separates the process of adding electors to the voters' list from the process of issuing ballots with the introduction of a revising office in the voting place. This was done to increase efficiency in serving voters and accuracy in completing forms.

The advance vote will run for six continuous days, from Tuesday, October 14 to Sunday, October 19 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be expanded to 44 locations across the city, with one in each ward. 

Advance voting will also be offered at Toronto City Hall from October 14 to 17. Electors, regardless of where they live in the city, can vote at this location.

On Election Day – Monday, October 27 – voting places will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

The new MyVote application at http://www.toronto.ca/elections/myvote provides electors with the information they need, including:

• if they are on the voters' list

• the candidates running in their ward

• when and where to vote, including a mapping feature 

• a sample of the ballot, and 

• accessibility information about the voting place.

Election Services is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal access to elections through the use of accessible voting equipment, enabling electors with disabilities to mark their ballot independently. The Voter Assist Terminal (VAT) is available at all advance vote locations and at one location in each ward on Election Day. The list of voting locations with a VAT is available at http://www.toronto.ca/elections. Electors who want to use the VAT on Election Day are asked to call Election Services at 416-338-1111 before October 20 to obtain a transfer certificate that will allow them to vote at the VAT location in their ward.

To vote in Toronto's municipal election a person must be:

• a Canadian citizen, and

• at least 18 years old, and

• a resident in the City of Toronto, or 

• a non-resident of the City of Toronto, but you or your spouse own or rent property in the city, and 

• not prohibited from voting under any law.

You may only vote once in the City of Toronto municipal election regardless of how many properties you own or rent within the city. You must vote in the ward where you live.

More information about the election is available at http://www.toronto.ca/elections.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1r1NklW

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

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Media contact: Wynna Brown, Strategic Communications, 416-392-8937, wbrown1@toronto.ca