Internet and Telephone Voting
Internet and Telephone Voting
The Township of East Zorra-Tavistock uses Internet and Telephone voting. By moving to Internet and Telephone voting methods, electors will have an opportunity to participate in an even more accessible, environmentally-friendly, and convenient method of voting.
"Voter Instruction Letters" will be mailed to eligible electors included on the Voters List near the beginning of October, 2022. If you do not receive a letter it means you were not on the Voter's List and need to be added. Included in the letter will be voting instructions, as well as a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN). Voters using the Internet method will log on to the election website, enter their PIN, then proceed to mark their ballots electronically. Voters using the Telephone method will dial into a toll free number, enter their PIN, then proceed to follow a touch tone menu to enter their votes. The PIN contained in the Letter will be required in order to Vote! Voting using the Internet or Telephone will be available starting October 13, 2022 at 9:00 am and will be permitted up until 8:00 pm on October 24. 2022 (Election Day).
The Township will be working with Intelivote Systems Inc. to provide for Internet and Telephone voting.
Please see the following videos showing how easy it is to vote by Internet or Telephone:
Frequently Asked Questions
All qualified electors on the official Municipal Elector's List provided by the Township.
Eligible electors who are not on the official Elector List will have to go to the Voter Help
Centre located at the Township Office and complete the required form to have their name added to the Elector List. Once this is completed you will be given a VIL by the Election Official.
If you receive a VIL and are not a qualified elector at the qualifying address noted in the letter, DO NOT use the credentials contained in the letter to vote. Instead, please return the letter to the Voter Help Centre located at the Township Office.
It is illegal to represent yourself as an eligible elector when you are not and vote. It is also illegal to open another person's mail and/or represent yourself as another person and steal their right to vote. All of these acts carry serious penalties, as defined by law. Please see the list of corrupt practices and statutory provisions regulating voting procedures:
Individual PINs will be mailed to eligible electors so that they are received approximately
three to five days prior to the first voting day. This will sometime within the first two
weeks of October, 2022.
If you are an eligible elector and on the official Elector List, but you did not get a PIN in the
mail by the start of the election period, you can request a replacement PIN. If the Election
Official's records indicate you were sent a PIN in the mail then the original PIN will be disabled
and cannot be used to cast a vote in the election. A replacement PIN will be issued to you if
the original PIN has not been voted and you provide appropriate identification.
If you didn't get a PIN in the mail one of two things may have happened. First, your name
was not on the official Elector List. PINs are only mailed to electors whose names appear on
the official Elector List as supplied by the municipality. Secondly, a PIN may have been mailed
to you and it has been delayed for some reason in the mail system.
No. The system does not track how a particular PIN has voted, only that the PIN has been
used to cast a vote.
No, there is no registration required. During the election period, using your PIN, you can use
either the telephone or the Internet to cast your vote.
If an elector loses or misplaces their PIN they should contact the Voter Help Centre
located at the Township Office. The Election Official can decide to replace the missing PIN if it has not already been voted. The Voter would then travel to the Voter Help Centre, sign a form, and the Election Official will then replace the missing PIN. The original lost or missing PIN will then be
disabled and it will not be able to be voted in the election.
Voting instructions will be included in the Voter Instruction letter mailed to each eligible
elector on the official Elector List. Included in this information are instructions on how to access
the voting system. Voters using personal computers will use the Internet to visit a website that
will allow them entry into the voting system where they can cast their vote. Alternatively, voters
can cast their ballot using the telephone or cell phone by calling a toll-free number.
No, you do not have to vote all the races on your ballot at one time uninterrupted. You can
disconnect from the Internet or the telephone and re-connect later, re-enter your PIN, and
complete your voting activity at that time. In fact, if you find it more convenient, you can switch
from one method to the other and complete your voting using the other method. For example,
you can start your voting on the Internet and at some point close your Internet session, and
then later re-start the voting process and re-enter your PIN using your phone or cell phone and
complete your ballot.
The list of candidates presented to you as a voter is determined by your place of residence
as defined on the Elector List. If you have moved and your new address was not updated on
the Elector List, (and your Voter Instruction letter and PIN were forwarded to your new
address), then you will see the list of candidates associated with your old place of residence.
You should contact the Voter Help Centre and the Election Official will authenticate you and, if
satisfied, can then electronically “re-categorize” the PIN. The correct list of candidates will be
presented to you once you re-connect to the voting system.
During the voting period you can connect to the voting system and enter your PIN. If you
have yet to complete all ballots assigned to you, the system will begin where you left off - at
the next race you are eligible to complete. When you have completed voting all ballots
assigned to you, entering your PIN online in the voting system during the voting period will
display a message containing your vote status. This message will advise if you have
completed voting. You can also contact the Voter Help Centre to get more information.
The Voter Instruction Letter mailed to you has the list of candidates included on it for your
reference purpose. In addition, each time the system presents you with a race to vote for, it
lists the eligible candidates running for that position and instructs you to select the
corresponding number for that candidate. You may also clear your ballot selections and start
over.
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, which ensures
complete voter anonymity and secrecy of the 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.
You can vote during the election voting period using the Internet from anywhere in the
world. You can also use telephone service and connect to the voting system toll free from
anywhere in North America simply by dialing the toll-free number contained in your Voter
Instruction letter.
You do not have to vote from home. You can vote from virtually any location using any
phone with touch tone service or from any computer. Please contact the Voter Help Centre if
you require more information.
You should treat your voting PIN with the same level of secrecy and confidentially you
reserve for your bank card and PIN. Do not give your PIN to anyone who may call or approach
you for the number.
If the phone lines are busy, simply hang up and call back a short time later. The voting
system is capable of handling a significant volume of calls simultaneously but there is always
the possibility that many voters are attempting to call in the same timeframe. Voters will be
able to connect to the system over the course of a number of days during the voting period.
Stealing and opening another person's mail is illegal. It is also illegal to represent yourself
as another person and steal their right to vote in an election. Both these acts are illegal and
have penalties defined by law.
If you know someone has voted your PIN illegally, you should report it to the Election Official
immediately. You can obtain a replacement PIN to cast your vote by presenting yourself to the
Election Official and swearing an affidavit that the PIN assigned to you was not voted by you,
but by someone else.
Electronic voting allows increased rights of privacy to voters with physical challenges that
make traditional voting at polling stations more difficult. Blind voters can make use of the
telephone and deaf voters can use the Internet to vote with little or no assistance required from
others. Please contact the Voter Help Centre if you require more information.
If you received more than one PIN it is because your name appeared on the Elector List
more than once. This rare situation might occur if you changed your place of residence and
have been enumerated in both locations or you own property and are the registered resident at
both locations. You are only permitted to vote once and you should only cast a vote using the
PIN associated with your primary place of residence. Please contact the Election Official of the
additional PIN and they will disable this PIN rendering it unusable for the election.
The Voter Help Centre will be located at the Township Office, 90 Loveys Street East,
Hickson.
Similar to the previous Vote-By-Mail elections, there will be no polling stations for the 2022 election. However, voting can be done from home or virtually anywhere else in the world with access to Internet or Telephone, and the use of a personal computer, mobile phone or tablet. Public Internet access is available in the Township at the Tavistock and Innerkip Library branches, during their regular hours of operation.
If you have any further questions at all, please contact:
Township of East Zorra-Tavistock
PO Box 100, 90 Loveys Street E, Hickson, ON N0J 1L0
519-462-2697