Voter changes and deadlines ahead of Toronto’s biggest byelection

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect twenty-five ballot boxes will be distributed across the city. 

It’s not uncommon for Toronto Elections to take reporters through all the upcoming dates and deadlines ahead of the big vote, but Wednesday’s briefing had an air of deja vu following a similar briefing ahead of last fall’s general municipal election.

But this is no ordinary vote. The sudden departure of John Tory from the Mayor’s Office amid a sex scandal involving a member of his staff has sprung the city into the largest byelection in its history.

And that doesn’t include the number of candidates running for the city’s top job. At a whopping 102, it’s the biggest field of candidates the City Clerk has ever registered in the mayor’s race.

But Elections Toronto said there will be room for all the candidates on a single ballot, one with which voters will be able to familiarize themselves with on June 1 when a sample ballot is posted on their website.

Much like last fall, Toronto voters will be able to vote by mail. But the cut-off date to register for a ballot is rapidly approaching. Electors have until Friday at 4:30 p.m. to register for a ballot at toronto.ca/votebymail.

All mail-in ballots need to be received by Toronto Elections by June 15 at noon in order to be counted. Voters can either pop them in a Canada Post mailbox with the prepaid postage, or deposit them in one of the city’s ballot drop boxes.

Twenty-five Toronto elections ballot drop boxes will soon be distributed throughout the city, one per ward, for that extra option. Deputy City Clerk Fiona Murray said the vast majority of voters last fall opted to deposit theirs in Canada Post box rather than the city’s.

Already, around 34,000 have signed up for a mail-in ballot, compared to around 25,000 this time last year.

The city is also allowing voters who opt to vote in person more ease to do so at advanced locations.

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Voters will be able to cast their ballot at any Toronto polling station during the six days of advanced voting. The measure is made possible by the fact all the ballots will be the same, regardless of which ward a resident lives in.

But on election day, June 26, voters will still have to vote at the location listed on their voter information card.

Advanced voting will run from Thursday, June 8 to Tuesday June 13 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There are 1.89 million eligible voters in the city, but City Clerk John Elvidge said there is still time to add themselves to the voter list by going to toronto.ca/myvote where they can also find other useful information.

Anyone who isn’t on this list will still be able to vote as long as they’re a resident, or own or rent property in the city, and have the correct identification.