With the Oct. 24 civic election fast approaching, it’s worth taking note of how to cast your ballot.
First, prospective voters should consider whether they fit the eligibility criteria:
- Are a resident in the local municipality or are the owner or tenant of land there, or the spouse of such owner or tenant
- Are a Canadian citizen
- Are at least 18 years old
- Are not prohibited from voting under subsection 17 (3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 or otherwise by law
Those prohibited from voting include inmates, a corporation, a person acting as an executor or trustee in any other representative capacity and those convicted of corruption within the last five years, as described in the Municipal Elections Act.
For eligible voters, the first major hurdle will be determining which candidates they want to vote for, which is a gap Sudbury.com has been striving to fill throughout the election cycle and beyond with our news coverage.
A full list of candidates and their corresponding websites and contact information can be found by clicking here. The list includes nine mayoral candidates and numerous council and school board trustee hopefuls.
Voters are also encouraged by the city to make sure their information is accurate on the voters’ list, although it’s not necessary to do so in advance of voting and can be done when you cast your physical ballot.
Ensuring your information is accurate early helps speed up the process on election day. Plus, the information needs to be accurate in order to take part in electronic voting, which will be made available from 10 a.m. on Oct. 14 to when polls close at 8 p.m. on Oct. 24. Electronic voting can be done on any computer, tablet or smartphone.
You can check to make sure your information on the voters’ list is accurate by clicking here.
In the event the information is not accurate, prospective voters can get it updated by visiting any one of the city’s Citizen Service Centres.
For those casting paper ballots, the city has lined up three advance voting locations for the two Saturdays leading up to election day, including Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. both days.
- Centennial Community Centre and Arena, at 4333 Centennial Dr., Hanmer
- Chelmsford Community Centre and Arena, 215 Edward Ave., Chelmsford
- Tom Davies Square foyer, at 200 Brady St., Sudbury
The city has also lined up 27 locations for regular paper ballot voting on election day (Oct. 24), from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Beaver Lake Sports and Cultural Centre, at 45 Club Rd., Worthington
- Capreol Community Centre and Arena, at 20 Meehan Ave., Capreol
- Caruso Club - Upper Hall, at 385 Haig St., Sudbury
- Centennial Community Centre and Arena, at 4333 Centennial Dr., Hanmer
- Chelmsford Community Centre and Arena, at 215 Edward Ave., Chelmsford
- Collège Boréal - Restaurant "au pied du rocher," at 21 Lasalle Boulevard, Sudbury
- Colonial Inn, at 28 Cedar St., Coniston
- Confederation Secondary School, at 1918 Main St., Val Caron
- Dowling Citizen Service Centre, at 79 Main St. West, Dowling
- Dr. Edgar Leclair Community Centre and Arena, at 158 St. Agnes St., Azilda
- Elm West Playground, at 505 White St., Sudbury
- Garson Community Centre and Arena, at 100 Church St., Garson
- Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex, at 235 Countryside Dr., Sudbury
- Holiday Inn, at 1696 Regent St., Sudbury
- McClelland Community Centre and Arena, at 37 Veteran's Road, Copper Cliff
- Microtel, at 1312 Kingsway, Sudbury
- NORCAT, at 1545 Maley Dr., Sudbury
- Onaping Falls Golden Age Club, at 109 Service Road, Onaping
- Queen Elizabeth II Public School, at 32 Dell St., Sudbury
- Robert H. Murray Public School, at 3 Henry St., Whitefish
- Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76, at 1553 Weller St., Sudbury
- Skead Senior Citizens Club, at 5 Bell St., Skead
- St. Stephen's on the Hill United Church, at 1248 Lauzon Ave., Sudbury
- T.M. Davies Community Centre and Arena, at 325 Anderson Dr., Lively
- United Pentecostal Church, at 2080 Lasalle Boulevard, Sudbury
- United Steelworkers Hall and Conference Centre, at 66 Brady St., Sudbury
- Wahnapitae Community Centre, at 161 Glenbower Crescent, Wahnapitae
The city is offering free public transit on election day, and will include a shuttle service from Cambrian College to NORCAT in order to make that location more accessible to voters.
Paper ballots are printed on-demand, and voters can attend any voting location to cast their ballot, on which they select a mayoral candidate, council candidate for the ward in which they reside, and school board trustee candidate for their ward and the school board they support.
Ballots will be dropped into a box, which staff will later take to a central processing location to be tabulated.
The unofficial results of the election are anticipated the evening of Oct. 24, with the problems that delayed results during the 2018 civic election unlikely to repeat due to a change in process.
The electronic-only voting model used in 2018 has been abandoned in favour of this year’s paper ballot/internet voting hybrid voting model.
According to the official results from 2018, that election’s voter turnout was approximately 45 per cent. When it comes to city councillor positions, the lowest turnout was 39.89 per cent in Ward 12 and the greatest turnout was in Ward 9, where 51.15 per cent of voters turned out. That is, excluding Wards 2 and 3, which were acclaimed.
This time around, all of the wards have been contested in the city councillor race, while several school board trustee positions have been acclaimed.
For the City of Greater Sudbury’s rundown of information for voters, click here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
