Voter FAQs

To be eligible to vote, you must meet the qualifications of electors as set out in subsection 17(1) of the Municipal Elections Act.

You must be:

• A Canadian citizen.
• At least 18 years old on, or before, Voting Day (October 24, 2022).
• A resident of the Municipality of Clarington, the owner or tenant of land in the Municipality of Clarington, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant.
• Not otherwise prohibited by law from voting.

You are not eligible to vote if you are:

1. A person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution, including a sentence being served in the evening or on weekends
2. A corporation
3. A person acting as executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity, except as a voting proxy
4. A person who was convicted of the corrupt practice described in Subsection 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, if Voting Day in the current election is less than five years after Voting Day in the election in respect of which he or she was convicted.

Separate school electors must be Roman Catholic and be otherwise qualified to be separate school electors. Where children attend school does not have any bearing on voter qualifications.

Non-resident owners or tenants, or spouses of owners or tenants, of commercially and industrially assessed lands are not eligible to vote for school board offices.

View the How Do I Vote page for more information.

You can attend an Election Assistance Centre or Clarington Public Library branch or vote using a touchtone telephone (or smartphone). If you need assistance, please call 905-697-4747 or learn more on the How Do I Vote page.

A voter whose name appears on the voters’ list is entitled to vote, subject to the following:

1. A voter may vote only once in the Municipality of Clarington, even if they own more than one property in the Municipality.
2. If the voter owns more than one property within Clarington, they must vote in the ward where they reside. The voter does not have the choice as to where they wish to vote.
3. In the case of school boards, the voter is only allowed to vote once for school board trustee, even if they own more than one property in more than one municipality that is contained within the jurisdiction of the school board.
4. A voter is allowed to vote once for the office of Regional Chair, even if they own more than one property in more than one municipality within the Region of Durham.

Call 905-697-4747, email votes@clarington.net or visit our website at www.clarington.net/votes for assistance. During the voting period (October 18 to 24), you can also  visit an Election Assistance Centre

If you are a qualified voter, and your name does not appear on the voters' list, you can add your name online. Starting September 1, 2022, you can also visit the Municipal Clerk’s Division at 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, during regular business hours or visit an Election Assistance Centre or a Clarington Public Library Branch.

If you are a qualified voter, and your name, ward, or school support does not appear correctly on the voters’ list, you can make these changes by visiting the Municipal Clerk’s Division at 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, during regular business hours or visit an Election Assistance Centre or a Clarington Public Library Branch.

If you need to add your name to the voters’ list and you haven’t already done so online, remember to bring valid identification to an Election Assistance Centre. You are required to show proof of your identity and residence or complete a Declaration of Identity declaring that you are the elector shown on the voters’ list.

• View examples of acceptable identification.

Read this answer on the VIL page.

Yes, if the person is deceased. You may bring the proof of death to the Municipal Clerk’s office on the 2nd Floor of the Municipal Administrative Centre, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville.

No, if the person is living. You cannot remove another living person from the voters’ list except yourself. If you want to remove someone from the voters’ list who is identified at your property, you may contact MPAC (1-866-296-6722) to make a request.

Yes, but you may not be on the voters’ list. There are two ways you can add your name to the list:

1. In person, between September 1 and 4:30 p.m. on October 17, at the Municipal Clerk’s Office (40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville).
2. In person, at any Election Assistance Centre, by completing an Application to Amend the Voters’ List form, with acceptable identification that has your new Clarington address.

There may be several reasons why you’re showing on the voters’ list, including:

• You are included on the list with one name, but you are checking with another name (e.g., “Pat” instead of “Patricia”).
• You have moved within the last four years.
• Your name, address, or birthdate are recorded incorrectly on the voters’ list and do not match what you have typed in.
• MPAC may not have been able to confirm your eligibility (i.e., citizenship, etc.) and left you off the list.

No. If the business is the owner of the property, you would not qualify as a non-resident voter.

You are eligible to vote in the municipality where you live and the municipality where you qualify as a non-resident voter. You can vote in both municipalities. If both municipalities are in the same school board, you can only vote for a school trustee in one municipality.

If you own two properties in the Region of Durham, you can only vote for the Regional Chair once.

No. You must vote in the ward where you live.

Yes, as a non-resident elector. You can only be a resident elector in one municipality. However, you can be a non-resident elector in any other municipality (or municipalities) where you own or rent a property.

You are entitled to three consecutive hours to vote on Voting Day. If your job requires you to work hours that would not give you a three-hour period to vote, you are allowed to be absent from your job for enough time to provide you with that three-hour period. Your employer may decide when it would be most convenient for you to be absent to vote.

Note: This does not mean that you are entitled to take three hours off work.

Yes. As long as you turn 18 on or before October 24, 2022, and meet all other eligibility criteria, you can vote any time during the voting period, even before you turn 18.

Yes. If you are a student and consider your “home” to be the place where you live when you are not attending school (i.e., you plan on returning there), then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality where you currently live while attending school.

Only eligible voters can cast their ballot in the 2022 Municipal Elections. Contact Clarington’s Election Staff immediately at votes@clarington.net or 905-697-4747 to be removed from the voters’ list and have the PIN deactivated.

If you receive a voter information letter that is not yours, you can write “Return to Sender” and drop it in the mail OR drop it off at any of the following locations:

• Municipal Administrative Centre, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville
• Clarington Public Library branch
• Election Assistance Centre

A contributor cannot make contributions exceeding a total of $1,200 to any one candidate in an election. This limit is never to be exceeded, regardless of the number of offices a candidate may have been nominated for during an election period. In addition to this, a contributor cannot make contributions exceeding a total of $5,000 to multiple candidates for office on the same council or local board. It is also important to note that cash contributions over $25 are not to be accepted by, or on behalf of, a candidate. Any contributions that exceed $25 must be contributed in a manner that associates the contributor’s name and account with the payment or by a money order signed by the contributor.

Coming soon.

Taking a picture of a completed ballot – yours or anyone else’s – is a violation of the Municipal Elections Act because it violates the secrecy of the vote. It is also a violation of the Act to publish a photo on your social media channels or elsewhere of a completed ballot.

If you have concerns or complaints about the placement of election signs in Clarington, please contact the Municipal Law Enforcement Office at bylawenforcement@clarington.net or 905-623-3379 ext. 2105.

Each eligible voter can only vote once in the 2022 Clarington Municipal Elections, regardless of how many properties they own. It’s the law. If convicted of voter fraud, you may face:

• A fine up to $25,000.
• Jail time up to six months.

November 21, 2022, at 4:30 p.m.

You can assist with the technology. If you are assisting with pressing the buttons to vote for a particular candidate, you must have the consent of the voter and the voter must be able to confirm you voted the way they intended.

No. They are prohibited from going door to door with a device to offer to help voters vote.

Voting online usually takes about five minutes to complete.

Please call 905-697-4747 for assistance or visit an Election Assistance Centre or Clarington Public Library branch.

If a voting session is interrupted at any time before the voter confirms their vote, the voter can simply re-enter the voting system and complete their ballot.

If you are experiencing issues accessing the voting web address, please make sure you are entering the web address into your browser search bar (not the search engine) exactly as shown on your voter information letter.

Sessions time out after 40 minutes of inactivity. There is a pop-up after 30 minutes of inactivity warning that a session is about to expire and offering to remain logged in by clicking “OK.” If your session times out, your ballot has not been submitted, and you will need to restart the voting process from the beginning. No votes will be submitted until you complete the entire ballot and click “Submit Ballot.”

Yes, as long as you have not clicked “Submit Ballot.”

Try to log in to the online voting system again. If your ballot has been submitted, the system will not allow you to log in. If your ballot has not been submitted, you will be prompted to proceed with casting your ballot.

Contact Clarington’s Election Staff immediately at votes@clarington.net or 905-697-4747.

No. The system does not track how a voter has voted, only that the PIN has been used to submit a ballot.

Votes are encrypted at all times. No one can manipulate them, including Election Staff.

No. Once a ballot has been submitted it cannot be changed.

When accessing the voting website, HTTPS and an image of a padlock will appear in the search bar, confirming a secure connection. If you get a message indicating that the site's digital certificate does not match the address where it connects to (or a similar message), you may be accessing a fake site. If this happens, please call 905-697-4747 immediately.