Sudbury residents could receive someone else's voting card by mistake

Residents in Greater Sudbury are starting to receive their voter identification cards in the mail, for the upcoming municipal election.

Each letter comes with a personal identification number (PIN) and information on how to vote online.

But some people have already received cards addressed to others, by mistake.

City spokesperson, Shannon Dowling told CBC News it would technically be possible for someone to use more than one PIN to vote in the election, but that person would then be at risk of being charged with voter fraud, by doing so.

"A voter may only vote once in a municipality and may only cast a ballot using their own voting credentials," Dowling stated in an email.

"Voter fraud and mail tampering are both offences under the law and any allegations of voter fraud will be reviewed and referred to the Greater Sudbury Police Service," she added.

Residents who receive voter information letters addressed to someone else are being asked to return those cards to the clerk's services office at Sudbury city hall.

"It's important for us to receive these back," Dowling said.

"Once the election is over, we prepare a report for MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) that outlines errors and corrections to the voter list."

Those who have not yet received their letters are asked to visit a local library with a valid form of identification to ensure they're on the voters' list.

This year marks the first time that the City of Greater Sudbury has moved to a fully electronic voting system.

The city's website explains that physical electronic polling stations with computers will be accessible throughout the city on voting day, Oct 22.

Help centres will also be set up at the city's libraries and citizen service centres.

Dowling noted that the online voting platform has been "tested extensively by the service provider, Dominion Voting Systems Inc." to reduce the overall risk of hacking and fraud.

"Penetration testing is in place that proactively tests various scenarios of what Dominion Voting Securities believes people would try and do to enter the electronic voting system," she said.

"The combination of these security measures protects both the integrity of the vote and access to electors' personal information."