The Town of Newmarket’s election team is geared to helping voters get a handle on how to vote online or by telephone for the first time in this year’s municipal election. Voters can now cast their ballots anytime beginning at 10 a.m. Oct 13 right through to election day Oct. 22 until 8 p.m.
If you or a friend or neighbour could benefit from a lesson, sign up or help them sign up for a quick, one-hour voting class here and remember to enter the course codes noted below for each class.
Voting classes are held at the following locations:
Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place (474 Davis Dr., in the computer lab)
Sept. 28 from 2 to 3 p.m. Course code 119406
Oct. 5 from 10 to 11 a.m. Course code 119404
Newmarket Public Library (438 Park Ave., in the board room)
Oct. 2 from 4 to 5 p.m. Course code 119410
Oct. 4 from 10 to 11 a.m. Course code 119410
For more information, call the Town’s election team at 905-953-5121 or email [email protected]
Two voting assistance ‘super centres’ welcome you to walk in, cast your electronic ballot
If you need assistance when it comes time to cast your electronic ballot, you can visit one of two Town voting assistance centres from Oct. 19 to election day Oct. 22.
Got polling station envy? While not a traditional polling station where you could show your identification to vote, the election centres’ staff welcome walk-in voters and are trained to help make online voting an easy process.
There’s an important caveat: Anyone wishing to vote must be registered on the Town’s municipal voters' list because a letter containing a personal identification number that is required to log in to the voting platform will be mailed out in advance.
To check if you’re on the list or to register, visit here
Here are the locations of the two voting assistance centres:
Magna Centre Gymnasium
800 Mulock Dr.
Open from Oct. 19 to 21 from noon to 8 p.m. and election day Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Ray Twinney Recreation Complex
Lounges 1 & 2
100 Eagle St. W.
Open from Oct. 19 to 21 from noon to 8 p.m. and election day Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Newmarkettoday.ca’s special election section is almost live
Responses to our series of questions posed to municipal election candidates’ are starting to roll in and we hope you find the answers useful in deciding who gets your vote. The candidates provide answers about why you should vote for them, what they believe the most important issues facing constituents to be, and more. Our favourite are the answers to what their dream projects are for Newmarket.
We’ll post candidates’ answers as they come in, along will all our other election coverage at newmarkettoday.ca/newmarketvotes.
Will your vote make a difference?
A compelling editorial cartoon by the Houston Chronicle’s cartoonist Nick Anderson sparked a mighty debate today on social media about voter turnout in municipal elections. The cartoon, posted in the 487-member Newmarket Votes Facebook group, shows people divided into two camps, one third of those on the left wearing T-shirts that say, ‘I voted’, and two-thirds on the right wearing T-shirts with no slogan. The text above the two-thirds-strong group is: We didn’t vote because we won’t make a difference.
It is a fitting meme with voter turnout in Newmarket’s last municipal election hovering at about 36 per cent.
The comments came fast and furious. Some members suggested that voting be made compulsory, as in Australia, where people face fines if they shirk their civic duty. Others expressed the view that while they are feeling disenfranchised, they will, nonetheless, vote for the “lesser of the two evils”. An election candidate reported that a constituent told him, “I don’t vote for any of you local politicians.”
If you want to shake off the apathy, check out the free Newmarket Chamber of Commerce 2018 Municipal Election Debate tonight at Newmarket Theatre, 505 Pickering Crt. The event starts at 6 p.m. with an open house featuring a meet-and-greet with ward and school board candidates. A debate between regional councillor and deputy mayor candidates gets going at 6:45 p.m., followed by the mayoral debate at 8:05 p.m.
Remember the words of ancient philosopher Plato, who said: One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Only 24% of candidates vying for municipal council jobs are women
Only 24 per cent of candidates on the municipal council ticket in the upcoming Oct. 22 municipal election are women. This doesn't include acclaimed candidates, councillors Kelly Broome and Christina Bisanz, who automatically retain their ward council seats because no one challenged them for the positions.
By contrast, over at the York public and Catholic district school boards, two-thirds of candidates vying for trustee positions are female, or 67 per cent.
The Town’s top political job is a race between two male mayoral candidates.
When asked why so few women are running for council, Newmarket resident Mark LeClaire offered this view: “My personal belief is that politics have gotten too ugly and that women, generally, have too high standards of honesty, integrity and morals to mount an election campaign that would win, sadly.”
Longtime resident Dianne Wood, who is actively involved in local politics, had this to say: "Along the line of how ugly politics is, as a woman, I would not want to get involved because I would not want to put my family through some of the ugliness. People dig into your private business and go through your social media posts and your family's social media posts and their private lives and put it out onto the public. And some people make up stories that are not true. I would hate to put my family through any sort of thing like that. ...Also with the Me Too movement bringing out so much garbage going on behind the scenes, why bother. There are way better ways to serve the public."
What do you think?
