With a provincial election fast approaching, Ontario’s chief electoral officer Greg Essensa says Elections Ontario is excited and prepared as it rolls out new additions to make the election more accessible.
When the writ drops on May 4, new resources, like a smartphone app and more advanced polling days will give voters greater flexibility and make voting easier, Essensa said in an interview.
The new app, free to download on all smartphones, gives voters an electronic ID for polling stations, information about candidates in their riding and nearby poll locations.
Essensa said the app “changes the paradigm” around how electoral management bodies communicate with the public. He added that bodies like Elections Ontario used to only communicate with voters through mailed voter information cards.
“With the app, the consumer gets to choose, ‘How do you want to communicate with us?’” Essensa said. “It really changes the relationship more to a one-to-one relationship.”
Elections Ontario is also doubling the number of advance polling days from five to 10. Essensa said this gives voters greater flexibility and flattens the spike in voting typically seen on election day.
“WE JUST WANT TO PROVIDE MORE CHOICE FOR ONTARIANS.”
“We’re hoping that Ontarians will look at that and say, ‘Hey, you know what, I can come out, I can still vote early and I can do it in a safe, efficient manner,’” Essensa said. “We just want to provide more choice for Ontarians.”
With Ontario currently experiencing its sixth wave of COVID-19, Essensa added Elections Ontario has built contingency plans and he has been meeting with Ontario health officials every two weeks.
“We’re getting the best advice possible to ensure the health and safety of all involved in the election—whether you’re working for us or whether you’re coming in to vote,” Essensa said.
Essensa wants to remind voters to check and update their registration information in advance, which expedites the voting process.
Elections Ontario is also hiring workers to fill in various positions like poll supervisors and information assistants.
“We have an excess of 55,000 people that we have to hire…” Essensa said. “I would encourage [Ontarians] to come to our website and fill in an application. We’d love to have as many youth as possible involved in the electoral process, certainly here in the Ottawa region.”
Ontarians can download the smartphone app, check their voter registration or fill out a job application at www.elections.on.ca.
Featured image by Elections Ontario.
