How to qualify, register, and vote in Guelph on oct. 22
Municipal elections will be held across the province of Ontario, allowing residents to vote for their town or city’s mayor, councillors, and school board trustees. All residents of Ontario who are Canadian citizens and 18 years of age or older on election day are eligible to vote. Before casting a ballot, every voter must qualify in their municipality and then register their name for the voters’ list.
Ontario’s elections will take place on Oct. 22, 2018, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
To qualify for your municipality, such as the city of Guelph, you must either own property, rent a place, live in shared accommodation where you do not pay rent, or live in the municipality with no fixed address.
If you’re a student at the University of Guelph, but live elsewhere while not attending school, a special rule applies to you. If your “home” town or city is not Guelph, and you either live there when you are not at school, or plan on returning there after school, you are eligible to register to vote in both places. Remember that you will still need to properly register to vote in both municipal elections using addresses of residency that apply to each location.
Once you have qualified for your municipality, or municipalities, you then need to register to be placed on the voters’ list in order to cast a ballot on election day. To check if your name is already on the list, or to add your name to the voters’ list in Guelph:
- Visit https://vote.guelph.ca/voters/voter-registration/
- Email the municipal clerk’s office at guelphvotes@guelph.ca
- Call the municipal clerk’s office 519-837-5625
Make sure to do this before Oct. 22. On election day, to know exactly which voting locations are available to you, you need to find out which ward your local address belongs to. Under the “What ward am I in?” tab on the homepage of vote.guelph.ca, the website will generate your Ward number after you type in the street number and name where you reside. There is also a “ward map” of the city of Guelph on the same webpage if you would prefer to locate your address’ ward independently.
The “voting locations” tab on the same webpage will bring up a list of voting locations and addresses organized by ward. Each ward has five or more voting locations open on Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On this date, you can vote at any of the locations in your ward. Remember that your employer is obligated to give you up to three hours to go vote.
If you are unable to vote on the 22, there are three advanced voting days for the Guelph municipality. The dates and times of these advanced voting days are:
- Oct. 12, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Oct. 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Oct. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On these advanced dates, you may attend any of the given locations to cast your ballot regardless of which ward you live in. The locations are the Guelph City Hall, the Clair Road Emergency Services Centre, the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre, or the University of Guelph Athletics Centre (only on Oct. 12).
If you need an accessible voting location, each of the four locations during the advanced voting period are equipped with Audio Tactile Interface (ATI) Handheld Touch Pads, Paddles and Sip and Puff devices. On voting day, Oct. 22, each ward is equipped with one voting location that has all three accessible ballot marking devices.
Once you have qualified, registered, found your ward, and preferred location to vote, you just need to arrive on election day with all the necessary identification. You will need to show identification that proves you are on the voters’ list, and will need identification that shows both your name and your municipal address. If your driver’s license, health card, or other photo ID does not show your Guelph address, you can show your lease or rental agreement or even a bill for hydro, telephone, Internet, water, or gas.
As voting day approaches, all you need to do is qualify, register, and find your ward and preferred location. Remember that you can contribute to how the city of Guelph is led by casting your vote on Oct. 12, 13, 14, or 22.
Map by Jude Keefe