Voter Eligibility

There are three ways that you can qualify to vote in a municipality:

  1. As a resident elector if you live in the municipality. You may own, rent, live in shared accommodation where you do not pay rent or live in the municipality but do not have a fixed address. Being a resident elector is the most common type of eligibility.
  2. As a non-resident elector if you own or rent property in a municipality, but it’s not the one where you live. You can be a resident elector in only one municipality. However, you can be a non-resident elector in any other municipality (or municipalities) where you own or rent property.
  3. As the spouse of a non-resident elector if your spouse owns or rents property in the municipality or municipalities other than the one where you live.

Neither you nor your spouse qualify as a non-resident elector if you do not personally own or rent the property in the municipality. For example, if the property is owned by your business or your cottage is owned by a trust, you would not qualify as a non-resident elector.

If you are not certain whether you qualify as a non-resident elector you should check with the municipal clerk. Under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, municipal clerks are responsible for conducting elections, and must be satisfied that a person is eligible to vote before adding their name to the voters’ list. Municipal clerks may seek legal advice if they are not certain of a person’s eligibility to vote.

In accordance with the Municipal Act, a person is entitled to be an elector (voter) at an election held in a local municipality (unless prohibited by this Act or any other Act) if, during the Voting Period, he or she:

  • Is a Canadian citizen,
  • Is at least 18 years old,
  • Resides in the Town of Bracebridge, or is the owner or tenant of land in the Town of Bracebridge, or the spouse or same-sex partner of such a person; and
  • Is not prohibited from voting because they are: 
    • Serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution;
    • A corporation;
    • Acting as an executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity; and
    • Was convicted of a corrupt practice described in Section 90(3) of the Municipal Election Act, if voting day in the current election is less than five years after voting day in the election in respect of which he or she was convicted.

Definitions of each category of eligible voter are listed below.

A person's residence is the permanent lodging place to which, whenever absent, they intend to return.

The following rules apply in determining a person's residence:

  1. A person may only have one residence at a time;
  2. The place where a person's family resides is also their residence, unless they move elsewhere with the intention of changing their permanent lodging place;
  3. If a person has no other permanent lodging place, the place where they occupy a room or part of a room as a regular lodger to which they habitually returns is their residence.

Resident Elector

A resident elector is where a person lives, and is eligible to vote in that municipality's election. A person is only allowed to have one residence at a time.

A person's residence is the permanent lodging place to which, whenever absent, they intend to return.

The following rules apply in determining a person's residence:

  1. A person may only have one residence at a time;
  2. The place where a person's family resides is also their residence, unless they move elsewhere with the intention of changing their permanent lodging place;
  3. If a person has no other permanent lodging place, the place where they occupy a room or part of a room as a regular lodger to which they habitually returns is their residence.

Non-Resident Elector

A non-resident must meet the criteria to be a qualified elector. This person may live in another municipality but owns or rents property (for a minimum of 6 weeks in the year of the election) or is the spouse of an owner or renter in the Town of Bracebridge. Proof of non-resident qualification will be required.

There is a special rule for students who may be living away from home while they attend school.
If you are a student and consider your “home” to be  the place where you live when you are not  attending school (that is, you plan on returning there), then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality where you live while attending school.

If a person has no permanent residence or lodging place, the following rules apply in determining their residence:

  1. The place to which the person most frequently returned to sleep or eat during the five weeks preceding the determination.
  2. If the person returns with equal frequency to one place to sleep and to another to eat, the place to which they sleep.
  3. Multiple returns to the same place during a single day, to eat or to sleep, shall be considered one return.

A person's affidavit regarding the places to which they returned to eat or sleep during a given time period is conclusive in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

To vote in an English-Language Public District School Board, an elector, in addition to the qualifications listed above, must:

  • Be a supporter (or be the spouse of a supporter) of the English-language public district school board; or
  • Not be a supporter of any school board, nor have qualified him or herself as an elector for a separate or French-language school board in the election. 

To vote in an English-Language Separate District School Board, an elector must be a Roman Catholic who must:

  • Qualify as an elector for the English-language separate district school board; or
  • Be a supporter (or be the spouse of a supporter) of the English-language separate district school board.

To vote in a French-Language Public District School Board, an elector must be a Roman Catholic and a French-language rights holder (see ss. 23(1) and (2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for criteria) who must: 

  • Qualify as an elector for the French-language public district school board; or 
  • Be a supporter (or the spouse of a supporter) of the French-language public district school board.

To vote in a French-Language Separate District School Board, an elector must be a Roman Catholic and a French-language rights holder (see ss. 23(1) and (2) of the  Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for criteria) who must: 

  • Qualify as an elector for the French-language separate district school board; or
  • Be a supporter (or the spouse of a supporter) of the French-language separate district school board.

The electoral status for school purposes is shown on the Voters' List. A voter may, during the revision period, make application for correction to the List. Therefore, a person may make application to change their school support up to and including Voting Day. Qualifications for an definitions of the categories of school electors are found in the Education Act, R.S.O.1990. 

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