Ottawa's Oct. 26 municipal election: 14 mayoral candidates, advance voting starts Oct. 1

Ottawa voters will go to the polls on October 26 to elect a mayor, ward councillor and school board trustee. Fourteen candidates are running for mayor, and 85 certified candidates are competing across 24 wards.

Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. Special Advance Voting Days run October 1-4 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at select locations across the city, including city hall and community and recreation centres. A ward-specific Advance Voting Day will be held on October 16 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in each ward.

Voter notification letters began arriving at the start of September. These letters contain information about ward eligibility, advance voting dates and hours, and voting places and addresses.

To vote, a piece of identification showing name and address is required. Photo identification is not required. Voters unable to present acceptable proof of identity and address will need to sign a statutory declaration before receiving a ballot.

Voters can verify or amend their information on the voters' list using the "Am I on the Voters' List?" tool on ottawa.ca/vote. Applications to add or amend voters' list information can be submitted to the Elections Office or to any City of Ottawa Client Service Centre. The deadline to verify or amend voters' list information is Sunday, September 20. After that date, voters can update information, including school board support, at a voting place on voting days. The voter information updates deadline is September 20 at 4:30 p.m.

Mail-in ballot applications can be submitted between September 1 and September 15. Proxy voting forms must be certified in person by City of Ottawa staff between September 1 and October 26 at 4:30 p.m.

Campaign signs can be erected starting September 11 and must be removed within 72 hours after voting day. The official deadline to remove all campaign signs is October 29 at 11:59 p.m. Signs are prohibited within 3 metres of an intersection, within 50 centimetres of a sidewalk, and where there is no sidewalk, within 2 metres of a roadway or 50 centimetres of the edge of a shoulder. In multi-residential dwellings, candidates and representatives are permitted access between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Landlords cannot prevent tenants from displaying campaign signs on rented properties, and condominium corporations cannot prevent owners or tenants from displaying signs.

For more information, visit ottawa.ca/vote, call 311 or contact the Elections Office at 613-580-2660.