How people living in Ward 4 can vote in their upcoming HWDSB trustee byelection
Aura Carreño Rosas | CBC News | Posted: November 25, 2024 6:25 PM | Last Updated: November 26
Online voting will be available to help gather data for 2026 municipal elections
The City of Hamilton announced Monday morning how Ward 4 residents will be able to vote in their upcoming Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustee byelections.
The spot opened in September when longtime trustee Ray Mulholland stepped down.
Election day is on Jan. 6, while advance in-person voting takes place on Jan 4 and 5. Polls will open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Polling stations will be located at the Rosedale Arena (100 Greenhill Ave.), the Sir Winston Churchill Recreation Centre (1709 Main St. E.), and BGC Hamilton-Halton (45 Ellis Ave.).
Online voting will also be tested during the byelection. Information gathered will help the city decide on voting methods for the 2026 municipal elections, according to the city's announcement.
"It's an opportunity to test out the bugs and get good data to evaluate the efficacy and rollout, and give us time to make changes in case we wanted to use it in the 2026 [municipal] election," said Ward 4 Coun. Tammy Hwang during an October council meeting when the move was approved.
The city said, in a media release, information about how to register and vote online will be included on voters' cards, which will be sent "in coming weeks."
Online voting will be open from Jan. 2 to 6.
Mayor Andrea Horwath said she hopes to make it easier for voters to "have their say" with this pilot.
"Recognizing barriers many face, the City of Hamilton is happy to offer residents more flexibility in how they participate in our democratic process," she said in a statement.
Nominations opened in early October. Here's the final list of candidates:
- Alison Bailey
- Amy Cowling
- Paul Jaye
- Amanda Neale-Robinson
- Larry Pattison Jr.
- Mariam Sulimankhil
- Jordan Williams
- Abby Zaitley