What to know
- Toronto advance voting runs from Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, with polls open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters can use their voter card, digital voting card or eligible ID and proof of address.
- Mayoral candidates Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford both cast their ballots on Tuesday, voting in their respective wards.
- Advance voting dates vary across the GTA, with Hamilton starting Oct. 3 and municipalities including Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton, Vaughan, Halton Hills, Milton and Markham voting on different dates throughout October.
- Several municipalities also offer online voting, including Halton Hills, Ajax, Pickering and Oshawa. Election Day is Oct. 26.
Election Day on Oct. 26 is quickly approaching, but multiple municipalities have already started voting early.
Advance voting is underway in some Greater Toronto Area cities, with other municipalities still preparing to open the polls.
Toronto early voting starts today
Early voting for Toronto began on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and will end a few days later on Sunday, Oct. 11. Polls are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voters should have received their voter cards in the mail, with Toronto Elections having mailed them out starting Sept. 20 to eligible voters.
Voters can also find their digital voting card through the city’s MyVote service.
Eligible voters can be added to the voters’ list through MyVote until 7 p.m. on Oct. 11. Additionally, if a resident did not get a voter ID card in the mail, they can head to the polls with government ID as well as any piece of ID or document with their name and address on it.
Eligible voters can visit the city’s website to find out where to vote in their ward.
It’s important to note that mayoral candidate Chris Alexander has dropped out of the race, as of half an hour before advanced polls opened on Tuesday. Despite this, his name will still be on the ballot, so residents must avoid voting for Alexander if they want their vote to count in the election.
Chow and Bradford cast their ballots early
Mayoral candidates Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford pledged to cast their votes early on Tuesday, with Chow voting just after 10:20 a.m. and Bradford planning to vote around noon.
Both candidates voted out of their respective local wards.
Other municipalities beginning advance voting
Advance voting has also opened up for Mississauga on Tuesday for voters allocated to the Mississauga Civic Centre ballot boxes, with that poll running until the next day.
For other poll locations in Mississauga, residents can check out the city’s website to find out which day this week they can cast their vote early.
Hamilton began even earlier than Toronto and Mississauga, with advance voting having started on Oct. 3, continuing on Oct. 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18.
Halton Hills will begin online advance voting on Oct. 9 and continue until Oct. 24, with pre-registration required to vote early.
Brampton will also begin on Oct. 9 and will base each day on location, much like Mississauga’s polls. Residents can check out the city’s website to find out what day their local polls will open.
Advance voting will begin in Milton on Oct. 12 and run until Oct. 15.
Oakville will have its polls open on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and run until Oct. 18.
Advance voting for Burlington runs Oct. 14 to Oct. 23.
Markham advance voting begins on Oct. 16 and runs until Oct. 26, while Vaughan begins on Oct. 9, Newmarket’s begins on Oct. 17, and Richmond Hill begins on Oct. 20.
Online voting for Ajax begins on Oct. 19 and runs until election day on Oct. 26, which is the case for Pickering as well.
For Whitby residents, advance voting begins Oct. 22 and runs until Oct. 25 across three locations. For Oshawa, online voting will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 26.
