Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The 2026 Municipal Election Day is Monday, October 26, 2026.

Pursuant to the Municipal Elections Act (“MEA”), the municipal Clerk is responsible for conducting the municipal election and establishing all procedures and forms and providing for any matters necessary for conducting the election. 

The Council of a local municipality may pass by-laws:

1. authorizing the use of voting and vote-counting equipment such as voting machines, voting recorders or optical scanning vote tabulators.
2. authorizing electors to use an alternative voting method, such as voting by mail or by telephone, that does not require electors to attend a voting place to vote.

The MEA requires the municipal Council to pass a by-law for use of voting and vote-counting equipment, authorizing electors to use an alternative voting method and circumstances in which the municipal Clerk shall hold a recount on or before May 1st in the year of the election.

Three items should be considered when selecting voting methods. 

1. Secrecy and Confidentiality: Ensuring the secrecy and confidentiality of the vote is paramount for maintaining the security of the electoral process.
2. Integrity and Verifiability: It is essential that the integrity of the voting process is upheld and that the final results accurately reflect the votes cast by the electorate.
3. Accessibility: The voting process should be accessible to all eligible candidates and voters, minimizing barriers to participation.

Prior to the 2020 Ward One By-Election, the Town of Pelham had conducted conventional in-person voting with paper ballots and the ability to use proxy voting. 

However, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the implementation of a hybrid approach: in-person paper ballot voting and on-demand mail-in ballot voting. 

The Town of Pelham adopted a hybrid approach in the 2020 bi-election and 2022 regular election, where special ballots on demand were used in addition to in-person voting. Eligible electors were able to pre-register for the vote-by-mail option. This alternative voting method was administered internally. In 2022 the Clerk’s Department received 57 vote-by-mail applications and delivered 57 vote-by-mail ballot kits to eligible electors. 52 vote-by-mail ballots were correctly received and processed.

No electors contacted the Clerk’s Department for proxy voting in the 2022 election.

Traditional in-person voting is the oldest and most familiar method of casting ballots. 

This method requires voters to visit a polling station during advanced voting periods or on election day. 

At the polling station, voters physically complete a paper ballot, which is then processed through a vote tabulator on-site.

Online voting enables electors to cast their ballots from their homes or anywhere in the world during the designated voting period. 

This digital option eliminates manual paper ballots, leading to faster tabulation of election results. 

Online voting presents a modern, efficient, and accessible way for electors to participate in the democratic process.

Postal voting offers high accessibility, enabling voters to participate from any location with postal service availability. 

Paper ballots are mailed to voters, who then complete them and return them to the municipality. Returns can be made via postal service or by depositing them in secure Dropbox locations designated by the municipality anytime before election day. 

A municipal election can adopt an all-posting voting approach, eliminating in-person voting opportunities. 

Alternatively, postal voting can be provided alongside other voting methods, offering voters multiple ways to cast their ballots.