Advance voting begins Friday for the municipal election in Windsor.
The city has scheduled advance voting for October 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, and 19.
City Clerk Steve Vlachodimos says the first advance voting will take place at the WFCU Centre at 8787 McHugh Street, first on October 9 and then on October 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“There are two options available: drive-thru voting, which we did in 2022, or you can enter the WFCU Centre through the gym, and we have a polling station inside the centre as well,” he says.
A Windsor Spitfires game is scheduled for Saturday, October 10. Residents are reminded to plan ahead as increased traffic in the area may occur toward the end of the voting hours.
Vlachodimos says they do tend to see fair attendance levels for advance voting, which is why they scheduled six advance voting opportunities for this election.
Voter notification cards have been mailed; however, you do not need one to cast your ballot. If you receive a voter notification card with incorrect information, you can still vote by bringing the card and your identification to any poll, and the information will be corrected.
Vlachodimos says to vote, you need to be a Canadian citizen, 18 years of age, a resident of Windsor, or the owner or tenant of land in Windsor.
“The one thing you do need to bring with you to a voting location is a piece of identification that shows your name and qualifying address,” he says. “At WindsorElections.ca, we have a comprehensive list of acceptable IDs, so we do encourage people to look at the list or contact 311, and we’d be glad to guide you through the process.”
Vlachodimos says they are doing something differently for election day if you don’t take part in advance voting.
“In the past when you got your voter notification card, you were assigned to just one pole location on election day. This time around, you’re going to get your card for election day, but there are going to be around four or five different locations that you can choose from within your ward. So it gives the voters a little bit of flexibility in terms of what is convenient for them,” he says.
Election day is Monday, October 26, with voting taking place between 10 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Voters can vote at any location within their ward. Click here to find the locations.
If you are an eligible voter, you can ride the bus for free when you go to vote on Election Day or any advance voting day. Just let the bus driver know that you are on your way to or from voting or show your voter notification card.