Advance voting underway in Ottawa municipal election
Four days of advance voting are underway in Ottawa for the Oct. 24 municipal election.
If you’ve already decided who you’d like to see as mayor, ward councillor and school board trustee, advance polls are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
"Today is an exciting day," Ottawa's manager of Municipal Elections Michele Rochette said. "It's our special advance voting, it really is the first opportunity for electors to vote in person."
During this voting event, voting places use an electronic Voters’ List and will offer “anywhere voting”. You can vote at any of the following nine voting places across the City of Ottawa, regardless of your address:
- François Dupuis Recreation Centre, 2263 Portobello Blvd.
- St-Laurent Complex, 525 Côté St.
- City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave. W.
- Greenboro Community Centre, 363 Lorry Greenberg Dr.
- Minto Recreation Complex – Barrhaven, 3500 Cambrian Rd.
- Nepean Sportsplex, 1701 Woodroffe Ave.
- Michele Heights Community Centre, 2955 Michèle Dr.
- Richcraft Recreation Complex – Kanata, 4101 Innovation Dr.
- CARDELREC Recreation Complex Goulbourn, 1500 Shea Rd.
These special advance voting days come one month before the municipal election. There will be two other advance voting days prior to Oct. 24; however to vote in advance polls on Oct. 7 and 14, you must go to a designated polling station, as opposed to any of the locations above this weekend.
An eligible elector in Ottawa must be:
- a resident of the City of Ottawa, or an owner or tenant of land in the City, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant;
- a Canadian citizen;
- at least 18 years old; and
- not prohibited from voting by law
"It's important to vote because if you don't you won't get the people you want," said Joyce Crago after voting on Saturday.
"I know someone who is running for mayor, so that's important to me – homelessness, better LRT; the LRT is horrible and I don't have a car."
Richard Lee just moved to Ottawa this summer, registering to vote in the municipal election.
"Given everything that is happening in the world right now to not exercise your vote seems so foolish to me," Lee said.
"It’s a right we have here in Canada that I think we take for granted and I think its really important regardless of which candidate to make your opinion heard."
There are 14 people running for mayor, 106 people vying for 24 council seats, and 83 people registered to become trustees in one of Ottawa’s four school boards. Eight school board trustee candidates will be acclaimed because they had no opponents as of the registration deadline in August.
Rochette says the city of Ottawa is still looking for election workers for advance voting days on Oct. 7 and 14, and to work on election day.
With files from CTV News Ottawa's Shaun Vardon
Correction
A previous version of this article mistaken misspelled Michele Rochette's name. This has been corrected.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.