Many Ontario snowbirds who are away for the winter have contacted Snowbird Advisor with questions and concerns about how they will be able to vote in the upcoming provincial election on February 27th given the tight timeframes and the fact they will be out of the country.
Since Ontario does not allow electronic voting in its elections, Ontarians who are away for the winter must vote by mail or courier.
To provide our members with information on how to vote, Snowbird Advisor reached out to Elections Ontario for advice for snowbirds. Below is the official response they provided to us:
“For those who will not be in Ontario on election day, we offer a mail option.
For information on candidates, you can contact your local election office. Find yours by postal code.
You can vote by mail. To do so, visit https://votebymail.elections.on.ca/.
- Elections Ontario must receive your application by 6 p.m. EST on February 21.
- Elections Ontario must receive your completed voting kit by 6 p.m. EST on February 27 to be counted.
Once a voter’s application to vote by mail has been received (no later than 6 PM Eastern Time on February 21) and approved, we will send their voter kit to the address indicated in their application via FedEx if outside of Canada.
- Voters can track the kit through our website via a confirmation code we will send them.
- It can take up to four days for the application to be processed
- Voters are responsible for ensuring that their completed ballot is received by Elections Ontario (no later than 6 PM Eastern Time on February 27) via their choice of courier.
When voting by mail, voters will enter the first and last name of their candidate on the ballot. They can search for currently registered candidates here. They can also visit the site for their individual Local Election Office.
Candidate nominations close at 2 PM Eastern Time on February 13. Our site will have an updated list that day. If their preferred party has not yet nominated a candidate, voters should contact that party to see who is expected to run.
If your readers have any questions or concerns, please have them reach out to us here at [email protected], or check our website, elections.on.ca, as we remain the trusted source for election information in Ontario. “
PLEASE NOTE: If you have additional questions about the election process, please do not contact Snowbird Advisor, as we do not have any additional information. Instead, please contact Elections Ontario directly by email at [email protected].
