After the special advance voting days, the next in-person voting opportunities will be at advance polls at residents' assigned voting places on Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, followed by election day voting on Oct. 24.
Two-year-old Bodi Gowrishankar calls it “boat,” rather than “vote,” but he’s already got more ballot-box familiarity than most future voters his age.
Gowrishankar joined his parents, Anchela Nadarajah and Vithuran Gowrishankar, at the first special advance vote day of the 2022 municipal election in Ottawa.
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“Convenience” is a big part of the early voting appeal for Nadarajah. “It’s just like, easier, calmer, especially with a toddler, plan around the schedule.”
Regardless of address, Ottawa residents can cast ballots at any one nine locations across the city daily until Tuesday, Sept. 27, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. They’re encouraged to bring their voter notification letters, if received, but it’s not essential. Bring a piece of identification with your name and address — no need for a photo — but, if you don’t have one, you can make a statutory declaration before being issued a ballot.
“It’s all about assisting the elector and (making) it as accessible and as efficient and easy as possible to get them to vote. That’s what we want,” said Michèle Rochette, city manager of municipal elections.
Saturday “started with a bang,” Rochette said, with lineups across the designated special advance voting locations, which have grown in number from 2018.
As for its requirement that voters commit to ballot choices with a month left to go before the election campaign ends, Gowrishanka wasn’t feeling any reservations. “I think the (candidates) had their views out pretty well,” he said.
The Kitchissippi ward residents also found some bonus civic engagement in the opportunity for Bodi to cast his own “ballot.” The city’s elections office is piloting a “Voters in Training” event during special advance voting days, allowing little ones to mark ballots with their favourite things about Ottawa and write in what they would do if they were mayor for a day.
“It’s really cool,” Nadarajah said. “This is like our little family outing to do our civic duty. It’s nice that we can include him.”
Rochette said the idea came from her staff, who were inspired by a similar initiative in Montreal. The elections office connected with school boards to get them engaged and Rochette says one hope is that the program encourages parents who might not otherwise vote to come out and do so as well as its title goal of engaging and educating future voters.
Some electors who came out Saturday said they took advantage of the early voting opportunity because it was a better fit for their schedules. Others had made up their minds about who to support and didn’t see a need to wait.
Ginette Brown, 77, was in the latter category. The Somerset ward resident said waiting a month wouldn’t change her vote.
“Because of what I see, what I read about the incoming people, I knew from the start which one I wanted.”
While her mind was made up about her mayoral, councillor and school board trustee votes, her husband, Bill Brown, was taken off-guard when the last one came up — he hadn’t looked at the school board trustee race. “I never even thought about that,” he said with a laugh. Otherwise, he said he’d read up on everything. “I’m decided.”
An hour and 45 minutes into special advance voting, the elections office said attendance had already exceeded 1,000 people.
Turnout-wise, Rochette saw the glorious weather working in their favour and, potentially, their decision to hold these voting days over the weekend. It offered people who might otherwise rush to vote on a weekday a chance to slow down and make an event of it.
There’s also guaranteed to be a lot of new faces around the council table, Rochette noted, with 10 of Ottawa’s sitting councillors opting not to run again. “People are probably engaged. There’s a lot of big things happening in the city.”
After the special advance voting days, the next in-person voting opportunities will take place at advance polls at residents’ assigned voting places over two Fridays, Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, followed by election day voting on Oct. 24.
Special advance voting locations
• 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.