“It’s now easier than ever to vote in a provincial general election,” said Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa.
He announced recently that making voting easy is the core driver for Elections Ontario, and he reviewed the voting options available to give citizens more flexibility than ever on how, when and where to vote.
New for this election, Ontarians who are eligible to vote will be able to do so by mail using a special ballot. Voters can also cast their special ballot at their returning office or satellite office over a period of 28 days.
As well, Elections Ontario is making available new voting technology. The audio tactile interface, paddles and sip and puff devices allow voters who had previously needed assistance to cast their ballot to now vote secretly and independently. The technology will be available in returning offices and satellite offices beginning Sept. 21 until Oct. 5.
“The assistive voting technology is a key part of our commitment to offer more choice to Ontario voters and just one of the ways we’re making it easy to vote in the 2011 general election,” said Essensa.
He also introduced the recently launched wemakevotingeasy.ca website, which was designed to be accessible, easy to navigate and easy to understand.
The website informs voters about acceptable types of identification to bring to the polls, and hosts useful web applications. Those allow voters to find which electoral district they live in (“Find Your Electoral District”), to check to see if they’re on the voters list (“Am I On The List?”), to find their voting location (“Where Do I Vote?” launching Sept. 12) or to apply for election day employment (“Election Job”).
The companion to all of the options available for the election is enhanced customer support that Elections Ontario has put into place. Essensa explained how voters can reach frontline communications support workers in both official languages by:
– phone: 1-888-ONT-VOTE;
– TTY: 1-866-479-1118;
– email: info@elections.on.ca;
– twitter: @ElectionsON or @ElectionsONfr; or
– facebook: facebook.com/ElectionsON or faceboo
k.com/ElectionsONfr.
The writ for Ontario’s 40th provincial general election drops on Sept. 7 and voters will have:
– 29 days to vote in the general election (Sept. 8 to Oct. 6);
– 28 days to vote in person with a special ballot at their returning/satellite office (Sept. 8 to Oct. 5);
– 23 days to apply for a special ballot to vote by mail (Sept. 8 to Sept 30);
– 15 days to vote with assistive voting technology (Sept. 21 to Oct. 5);
– 10 days to vote at advance polls (Sept. 21 to Sept. 30); and
– 12 hours to vote on election day (Oct. 6).
Elections Ontario is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections and referenda. Learn more at www.wemakevotingeasy.ca.
