Voting times extended in several Ontario municipalities due to online voting glitches

Several municipalities in Ontario are extending online and in-person voting times after problems with their online voting systems.

The glitch affected several municipalities that use the Dominion Voting System, which struggled to process the traffic on its website, according to Kingston city officials.

“The City of Kingston is one of a number of municipalities that have been affected by online voting issues. Internet voting became inaccessible at approximately 5:45 p.m. this evening,” read a public notice from the City of Kingston, which added that in-person voting times would be extended by an hour and 15 minutes to 9:15 p.m.

The City of Greater Sudbury said it would be extending online and in-person voting times to between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23. The town of Collingwood said it would extend voting to between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

“The extension is deemed necessary and advisable for the conduct of the election,” Collingwood officials said in a statement.

READ MORE: Voting deadlines extended in City of Peterborough and City of Kawartha Lakes

Several other municipalities also announced extensions in voting times, including Peterborough, Cambridge, Gravenhurst, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil and the six municipalities in the Muskoka region.

Results were also slow in coming from London, Ont., which became the first Canadian municipality to use ranked ballots in a local election – an option no other municipality opted to try. The system allows voters to choose three candidates in order of preference.

According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, there were 6,645 candidates running in local council races across the province and 9.2 million eligible voters.

— With files from the Canadian Press

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