Municipal Election Resources & F.A.Q.

 Anyone can vote in a Municipal Election who, on the day of the election, is:

• 18 years of age or older
• a Canadian citizen; and
• either a resident of the municipality or a property owner or tenant or the spouse or same sex partner of an owner or tenant in the municipality during a specified time just before the election.

The following cannot vote in a municipal election:

• a person serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution;
• a corporation;
• a person acting as an executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity, except as a voting proxy in accordance with section 44 of the Municipal Elections Act​, 1996; or​
• a person convicted of a corrupt practice for an election held within four years of Voting Day.​​

Voting instructions will be included in the Voter Instruction Letter mailed to each eligible elector on the official Voters' List. Included in this information are instructions on how to access the voting system. 

Internet Voting (October 13, 2026 to October 26, 2026):

Voters using a computer, tablet or other device with internet are able to access the secure online voting system through a designated website to cast their ballot. You will need the Voter Pin shown on the Voter Information Letter plus your birthday to access the system. 

Telephone Voting (October 13, 2026 to October 26, 2026):

Voters can cast their ballot via phone (telephone or cellular phone) by calling a toll free number listed on their Voter Information Letter to access the secure telephone voting system. You will need the Voter Pin shown on the Voter Information Letter plus your birthday to access the system. 

Paper Ballots (Monday, October 26, 2026 between 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.):

Voters can cast a paper ballot in-person at the Township Office (894 South Street, Warsaw). Identification is required. Please view the list of acceptable documents for voter identification. 

Elections Ontario is responsible for preparing the Preliminary List of Electors for each municipality. It is Elections Ontario's Register that is used to prepare this preliminary list, which aids in the preparation of the final Voters' List for Voting Day. School board information is provided by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

You can contact the Clerk's Department to check if you are on the Voters' List and that your information is up to date. If you need to update or add your information, you will need acceptable identification and can do so by: 

• Contacting the Clerk's Department
• Visiting a Voter Help Centre during the voting period. 

You can be added to the Voters' List or update your information until the close of voting on Voting Day (Monday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m.).

Voter Information

Elections Ontario is responsible for collecting the information of residents in Ontario (name, date of birth, citizenship and school support) in order to create a Preliminary List of Electors for Municipal and School Board Elections. Municipalities will use the Preliminary List of Electors to prepare their Voters Lists for the 2026 Municipal and School Board Elections.

One of the ways Elections Ontario collects this information is through www.registertovoteon.ca. Here, Ontarians can add their name and the names of other members of their household to a secure database and confirm or update their information. This helps ensure that each municipality has the most accurate information possible for the 2026 Municipal and School Board Elections.

On or after September 1, 2026, you must apply to your municipal clerk to update or add your information to the Voters’ list. You have until the close of voting on October 26, 2026, to apply for any changes. If you are applying to add your name to the voters’ list, you will be asked to provide proof that you are eligible to vote.

School Support Information

MPAC remains responsible for collecting school support information for municipal elections. To learn more about school support or to change your school support designation, please visit the MPAC website.

If a by-election has been called in your municipality, you should contact your municipal clerk for information about adding your name to the voters’ list or correcting your information.

You can contact the Clerk’s Department to check if you are on the Voters’ List and that your information is up to date. If you need to update or add your information, you will need acceptable identification and can do so by:

• Contacting the Clerk’s Department
• Visiting a Voter Help Centre during the voting period

You can be added to the Voters' List or update your information up until the close of voting on Voting Day (Monday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m.) 

No. You must complete the voting by either Telephone, Internet or Paper Ballot on your own. That being said, you may offer assistance to friends and family, with their permission, but ultimately the secrecy of the ballot is paramount, and you must not interfere with the voting process. Voting assistance will be available during the voting period at Township of Douro-Dummer Municipal Office (894 South Street, Warsaw On., K0L 3A0) during regular office hours.

Note: It is an offence to utilize another elector's PIN number and thereby vote multiple times.

No. Once a vote has been confirmed it cannot be changed. 

This process is the same as dropping the ballot into the ballot box in a traditional paper based election ensuring complete voter anonymity and secrecy of ballot. 

The system does not know how the ballot was voted; only that the PIN was used in the election to cast a vote and thus it cannot be removed from the vote count

Yes. A Help Centre is available at the Township Office located at 894 South Street, Warsaw. 

The Help Centre has a telephone and internet access available for voting during the Voting Period. This is not to be considered a “Polling Station”. 

At the Help Centre voters can request:

• Additions to the Voter's List
• Deletions from the Voter's List
• Corrections to the Voter's List
• Additional assistance or clarification about the election process

Help Centre During Election Period

Help Centre will be available during regular office hours: 

• Monday to Thursday:
  • 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Friday:
  • 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday: 
  • Closed

Help Centre on Election Day 

On Election Day, Monday October 26, 2026, the Help Centre will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Township has developed an Election Accessibility Plan to ensure that electoral services are accessible to everyone - candidates, electors and staff. The Plan identifies ways the Township will eliminate barriers for persons of all abilities and create a positive electoral experience for everyone.

No. 

The Township of Douro-Dummer does not host or coordinate any all candidate debates, meetings or events. 

Voter Information Letters will begin being mailed on September 30, 2026.

Each eligible elector will receive a letter containing a unique PIN. Letters will be mailed to allow for delivery at least three (3) to five (5) days before the first day of voting.

Voter Information Letters (VIL) will be sent in the mail in late September to all voters on the Voters' List. 

If you did not receive your VIL, you may not be on the Voters' List. Don't worry, you can add your name to the List at by completing​ an Application to Amend the Voters' List form with acceptable identification by contacting the Clerk's office. Election staff can also email your VIL if you didn't receive it or need to get added to the list during the voting period. 

If an elector loses or misplaces their Voter Information Letter they should contact the Township of Douro-Dummer as soon as possible. 

The Election Official is able replace the missing Voter Information Letter if it has not already been voted. The voter needs to complete a form stating that they lost or misplaced their Voter Information Letter and provide acceptable identification. Once complete, a replacement Voter Information Letter can be issued.

The original lost or missing Voter Information Letter will be disabled and cannot be used to vote in the election.

Help us improve the Voters' List for the next election: If an elector receives multiple Voter Information Letters (VILs), it may be because there are differences in your elector records on the Voters' List, including:

• Different last/first names (eg: married, and birth names)
• Different birth dates on the voters' list
• Different addresses
• And/or a combination of the above

The Clerk’s Office conducts an extensive review of possible duplicates identified (flagged by our Voters’ List software VoterView) before issuing the Voter Information Letters (VILs). Election staff remove duplicate names where it is appropriate, but they may have kept both electors if they appeared to be twin siblings, or two different people with very similar names/birthdates.

This process has been completed in every past Township of Douro-Dummer Election. However, each election rare cases of duplicates are discovered following the initial mailing.

What to do with a duplicate? Electors should contact the Elections Office (705-652-8392 ext. 224) and let us know right away. We will deactivate the duplicate Voter Information Letter (by deleting duplicate elector profile) as soon as possible to ensure the extra PIN cannot be used to vote twice.

Why does this most commonly happen? Our experience with duplicate Voter Information Letters (VILs) is that one of the duplicate letters is usually associated with an invalid date of birth in our Voters’ List software. If this is the case, the 'duplicate elector' would not be able to vote with the second PIN, as all electors must enter a valid birth date to vote (the voting system will not allow someone to leave the year of birth blank for security purposes). So even if someone receives two Voter Information Letter (VIL), they likely won't be able to vote with one of them as the date of birth would be unknown.

What happens if I can vote twice using two Township of Douro-Dummer VILs?  All electors when voting must accept the oath that states in part: “Section 89 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended, provides that a person is guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to a fine of not more than $25,000, if they…votes more times than this Act allows;”. If an elector votes twice in Douro-Dummer with either a duplicate Voter Information Letter (VIL), or any another Voter Information Letter (VIL), they are violating the Municipal Elections Act.

Someone moved away that received a PIN Letter at my house: Electors who received Voter Information Letter from family members who have moved away should be advised to send the letters back in the mail “Return to Sender-Moved”.

Updating your address on your driver's licence, your utility bills, or the Federal Voters' List, does not update a municipal Voters' List. Voters who are no longer eligible to vote in Douro-Dummer must remove themselves from the Douro-Dummer Voters' List by completing an Application to Amend the Voters' List ​form from the Clerk's Department.

A Voter Information Letter (VIL) is sent to all eligible voters in Douro-Dummer who are on the Voters' List. The VIL from Douro-Dummer contains important voting information including the website to visit and the phone number to call in order to access the voting system. Your VIL will also contain your PIN, which you will need in addition to your full date of birth, to cast your ballot via the internet or telephone. 

Bring your VIL with you to the Voter Help Centre (located at the Municipal Office) if you require assistance with voting. The VIL will help us serve you quickly at the Voter Help Centre.

Please remember to bring acceptable identification if you would like to vote with a paper ballot as the VIL does not serve as acceptable identification​.