By-Election: Voter Information

The City Clerk and Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health have determined that voting can be carried out safely with the implementation of a range of health and safety measures in the voting place:

• Require voting place staff to complete a self-screening questionnaire prior to entering the location.
• Provide PPE to voting place staff including face shields, face masks and hand sanitizer.
• Provide enhanced health and safety training to voting place staff facilitated by Toronto Occupational Health and Safety.
• Maintain attendance records for staff including name, contact information and voting place assignment.
• Provide election day staff a location outside of the voting room when they need to remove their mask to eat, drink or take medication.

Provide Additional Ways and Options to Vote

• Offer four days of in-person voting by expanding the advance vote from 2 to 3 days and increase the number of advance vote locations from 1 to 2 in order to reduce the number of electors on election day.
• Implement Vote by Mail to offer a safe and secure alternative to in-person voting.
• Administer bed to bed voting in 3 institutions in the ward where the Municipal Elections Act requires a voting place using institutional staff and specialized procedures.
• Allow eligible electors the ability to appoint another person to act as their voting proxy if they are unable to attend a voting place.

When You Go to Vote

• Ensure you meet the qualifications to vote.
• Bring and wear your mask or face covering, it is mandatory for all indoor public spaces in the City of Toronto.
• Follow the instructions and directions from Election officials.
• Maintain physical distancing in the voting place – 2 metres (6 feet) apart.
• Sanitize your hands upon entering and exiting the voting place.
• To speed up your time spent in the voting place:
  • Use MyVote to check your voter information and where to vote.
  • Bring your ID with your name and qualifying address to receive a ballot.
  • Bring your Voter Information Card or download it to your smartphone from MyVote.
  • Vote during non-peak times. The busiest times are from 5 p.m. to the close of voting.
    • Toronto Elections will use social media to communicate to the public voting place volumes and redirect electors to less busy locations wherever possible.

DO NOT come to our office or the voting place if you are experiencing any COVID-19 related symptoms.

In-person Voting

You may only vote once in the by-election regardless of how how many properties you own or rent within Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt and regardless of how many voting opportunities or options there are.

There are four days of in-person voting:

During the Advance Vote – Friday, January 8 to Sunday, January 10 – from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Electors can vote at either location:

On Election Day – Friday, January 15 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Electors can find their assigned voting place by using MyVote or by calling 311.

Appoint a Voting Proxy

If you are unable to vote for any reason on any of the available voting days you may appoint another eligible elector to vote on your behalf.

You can request a Voting Proxy Application by emailing elections@toronto.ca or by calling 311.

Under section 44 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 an elector may act on behalf of:

• one other eligible elector who is not a relative, or
• one or more eligible electors who are relatives, using separate proxy forms for each.

Note:

• a relative means the parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister or spouse of the elector appointed.
• the Voting Proxy Appointment form is a public record and the copy on file with the Clerk may be inspected by any person.
• a person acting as executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity is still required to obtain a proxy certificate.

Once you receive the proxy appointment form, you must:

• • complete all the information
  • sign it
  • provide identification (photocopies are acceptable), and
  • tell your proxy who you wish to vote for.

Your Voting Proxy must:

• present the Voting Proxy Appointment form in person for certification along with identification of both the elector making the appointment (photocopies acceptable) and the elector appointed as the proxy (original copies).  Certification of Voting Proxy Application forms will be done at 89 Northline Rd and by appointment only:

• • during regular business hours – Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m.
  • during the Advance Vote on Friday, January 8, Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10, 2021 between the hours of noon and 5 p.m.
  • on Election Day, Friday January 15, 2021 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Email elections@toronto.ca to book an appointment.

It is very important to remember that the Voting Proxy Appointment form must have signatures from both you and the person you appoint as proxy in order for the City Clerk or designate to certify the form.

• Once the Voting Proxy Appointment form is certified the Proxy will vote at the assigned voting place of the elector. Use MyVote to find out where.

For more information you may consult the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

Curbside Voting

If you are physically unable to go inside the voting place, you can request to have your ballot brought to your vehicle, outside of the building or to another area within the voting place. A friend or support person will need to go inside the voting place to let the election officials know that you require curbside voting.

Where a voting place is situated in a multi-residential building, the boundaries do not include any residences on the property.

This is not a drive-through voting option and is limited to those who are not able to enter the voting place due to barriers of unreasonable difficulty, injury or disability.

Accessible Voting Equipment

The Voter Assist Terminal (VAT) is a ballot-marking device that allows voters with disabilities and other special needs to mark their ballot privately and independently. The features include a touch screen, an audio component, a Braille key pad, a Sip/Puff tube device, a Rocker Paddle/Foot Switch and zoom features to adjust font sizes and colour contrast.

• Voter Assist Terminal Audio Only

If you require the use of a Voter Assist Terminal (VAT) and one is not located at your designated voting place, you can use the designated VAT voting place on Election Day.

Personal Assistance to Voters

If you require assistance at the voting place you may bring a friend along to help or you may ask an election official for assistance. Your friend may go behind the voting screen with you however they must make an oral declaration first.

Transportation to Voting Places

There are several ways to arrive at a voting place:

• TTC
• Wheel-Trans 
• by calling your local candidate
• by calling a friend

Translated Materials and Language Services

If you require assistance in another language:

• Key By-election information is now available in English and additional languages.
• If you require assistance in a language that is not available, please call 311 to request over-the-phone interpretation in more than 180 languages.
• Voting place staff will be wearing tags that show the different languages they speak.
• You may ask anyone who is not a candidate or a scrutineer to act as an interpreter for you. They must complete an oral declaration that they will faithfully translate any communication between you and the election officials. Interpreters may not go behind the voting screen with you or assist you in voting.
• Translated How to Vote booklets are available in the voting place to assist with declarations, required identification, how to mark your ballot and what to expect when you go to vote.

Taking Time off to Vote

Voting hours on election day are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

You are entitled to three hours in which to vote on voting day. This does not mean you can take three hours off work. It means you’re allowed to be absent to give yourself three hours of voting time.

Typically this is at the start or end of your working hours. For example, if your working hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., you are entitled to leave one hour early so that you would have from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to vote.

Your employer may decide when it would be most convenient for you to be absent in order to vote. For example, if you work from noon to 6 p.m. your employer may decide that you should come in at 1 p.m., rather than leave work at 5 p.m.

Voting by Mail

The deadline to apply for Mail-in Voting has now passed.  If you have applied to vote by mail you can check the status of your Mail-in Voting package and find out your options to return your package by the deadline of 6 p.m. on January 15.

If any of the additional voting options do not work for you, email elections@toronto.ca or call 311.

You can vote in the January 15 By-election: Councillor Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt if you are:

• a Canadian citizen; and
• at least 18 years old; and
• a resident in Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt; or
• a non-resident of Toronto, but you or your spouse own or rent property in Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt; and
• not prohibited from voting under any law

You may only vote once in the Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt by-election regardless of how many properties you own or rent within Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt. You may only vote once regardless of how many voting opportunities or options there are.

Who cannot vote:

You are prohibited from voting on voting day if you are:

• serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution
• a corporation
• acting as executor or trustee or in another representative capacity, except as a voting proxy
• convicted of a corrupt practice described in section 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996

One piece of identification (ID) showing your name and qualifying Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt address is needed when you go to vote.

• Ontario issued photo card, driver’s licence or motor vehicle permit (vehicle portion).
• Cancelled personalized cheque, credit card or bank account statement.
• Utility bill for hydro, telephone or cable TV, water, gas or a bill from a public utilities commission.
• Cheque stub, T4 statement or pay receipt issued by an employer.
• Statement of direct deposit for Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program.
• Property tax assessment, income tax assessment notice, Child Tax Benefit statement.
• Mortgage statement, lease or rental agreement.
• Transcript or report card from a post-secondary school.
• Document showing campus residence, issued by the office or officials responsible for student residence at a post-secondary institution.
• Any other document from the government of Canada, Ontario or a municipality in Ontario or a document issued or certified by a court in Ontario.
• Any document from a Band Council in Ontario established under the Indian Act (Canada).
• Insurance policy or insurance statement.
• Loan agreement or other financial agreement with a financial institution.
• Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits Paid T4E.
• Statement of Old Age Security T4A (OAS), Canada Pension Plan Benefits T4A (P), Canada Pension Plan Statement of Contributions.
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Statement of Benefits T5007.
• CNIB card or a card from another registered charitable organization that provides services to persons with disabilities.
• Document showing residence at a long-term care home under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, issued by the Administrator for the home.
• Hospital card or record.

Learn more about Ontario regulation 304/13 for voter identification  under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996  as amended.

Full printable list of identification

The voters’ list is a list of eligible electors in the City of Toronto. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is responsible for preparing the preliminary list of electors for each municipality and school board in Ontario. It is MPAC’s Municipal Property Assessment database of property owners and tenants that is used to prepare this preliminary list, which aids in the preparation of the final voters’ list for Election Day.

Get on the Voters’ List for the Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt By-election

The online voter registration deadline has passed. You can add yourself to the voters’ list when you go to vote in-person.

You can still check to see if your name appears on the voters’ list through our online tool MyVote. If your name appears on the voters’ list you can can print off or download your Voter Information Card to your smartphone.

Call 311 or email elections@toronto.ca for more information.