Voters

RegisterToVoteON.ca is an online service available to Ontario residents. Using registertovoteon.ca, electors can confirm and update their electoral information for the upcoming municipal and school board elections.

The information confirmed and collected through RegisterToVoteON.ca allows electors to register for municipal and provincial elections all in one place. Confirming your elector eligibility now will make for an easier process when it is time to vote.

Elections Ontario administers RegisterToVoteON.ca. Elections Ontario is a non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario responsible for administering elections in Ontario. Elections Ontario is governed by the Election Act and the Election Finances Act.

Yes, although you will have to bring proof of your identity and residence to an Election Assistance Centre or the Municipal Clerk's office and fill out the required form.

Resident elector (you live in Clarington)
As a resident elector, you (or your spouse) 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.

Non-resident elector
Non-resident electors may own or rent property in Clarington but do not live here. You can only be a resident elector in one municipality. However, you can be a non-resident elector in any other municipality (or municipalities) where you own or rent property.

Spouse of a non-resident elector
If your spouse owns or rents property in Clarington, you can vote as a spouse of a non-resident elector.

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

A qualified person can only vote once, regardless of how many properties you own or rent in the Municipality of Clarington. If you live in Clarington and own or rent more than one property within Clarington, you must vote for the ward where you live.

To be eligible to vote, you must meet the qualifications of electors as set out in section 17(1) of the Municipal Elections Act. 

You must be: 

• A Canadian citizen. 
• At least 18 years old on or before Voting Day (October 26, 2026). 
• A resident of the Municipality of Clarington, the owner or tenant of land in the Municipality of Clarington, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant. 
• Not otherwise prohibited by law from voting. 

You are not eligible to vote if you are: 

• A person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution, including a sentence being served in the evening or on weekends.
• A corporation.
• A person acting as executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity, except as a voting proxy. 
• A person who was convicted of the corrupt practice described in Subsection 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, is disqualified until the next regular election has taken place after the election to which the offence relates. 

Separate school electors must be Roman Catholic and be otherwise qualified to be separate school electors. Where children attend school does not have any bearing on voter qualifications. 

Non-resident owners or tenants, or spouses of owners or tenants, of commercially and industrially assessed lands are not eligible to vote for school board offices. 

You can attend an Election Assistance Centre or Clarington Public Library branch, or vote using a touchtone telephone (or smartphone). If you need assistance, please call 905-697-4747 or learn more on the How Do I Vote? page. 

A voter whose name appears on the voters’ list is entitled to vote, subject to the following: 

• A voter may vote only once in the Municipality of Clarington, even if they own more than one property in the Municipality. 
• If the voter owns more than one property within Clarington, they must vote in the ward where they reside. The voter does not have the choice as to where they wish to vote. 
• In the case of school boards, the voter is only allowed to vote once for school board trustee, even if they own more than one property in more than one municipality that is contained within the jurisdiction of the school board. 

Call 905-697-4747, email votes@clarington.net or visit our website at www.clarington.net/votes for assistance.

During the voting period (October 20 to 26), you can also visit an Election Assistance Centre. 

If you are a qualified voter, and your name does not appear on the voters' list, you can add your name online by visiting RegisterToVoteON.ca.

Starting September 1, 2026, you can also visit the Municipal Clerk’s Division at 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, during regular business hours or visit an Election Assistance Centre or a Clarington Public Library Branch. 

If you need to add your name to the voters’ list and you haven’t already done so online, remember to bring valid identification to an Election Assistance Centre. You are required to show proof of your identity and residence or complete a Declaration of Identity declaring that you are the elector shown on the voters’ list. 

• View examples of acceptable identification. 

If you do not receive a voter information letter, you may not be on the voters’ list. Visit the Municipal Clerk’s Office at 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, or an Election Assistance Centre to add your name to the list.  

Yes, but you may not be on the voters’ list. There are two ways you can add your name to the list between September 1 and October 26, 2026, during regular business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on October 26): 

• In person, at the Municipal Clerk’s Office (40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, wickets 8 and 9). 
• In person, at any Election Assistance Centre. 

There may be several reasons why you’re not showing on the voters’ list, including: 

• You are listed under one name, but you are checking under another (e.g., “Pat” instead of “Patricia”). 
• You have moved within the last four years. 
• Your name, address, or birth date is recorded incorrectly on the voters’ list and does not match what you have searched. 
• Your citizenship may not be confirmed. 

No. If the business is the owner of the property, you would not qualify as a non-resident voter. 

You are eligible to vote in the municipality where you live and the municipality where you qualify as a non-resident voter. You can vote in both municipalities. If both municipalities are in the same school board, you can only vote for a school trustee in one municipality. 

No, you must vote in the ward where you live. 

Yes, as a non-resident elector. You can only be a resident elector in one municipality. However, you can be a non-resident elector in any other municipality (or municipalities) where you own or rent a property. 

You are entitled to three consecutive hours to vote on Voting Day. If your job requires you to work hours that would not give you a three-hour period to vote, you are allowed to be absent from your job for enough time to provide you with that three-hour period. Your employer may decide when it would be most convenient for you to be absent to vote.

Note: This does not mean that you are entitled to take three hours off work. 

Yes, as long as you turn 18 on or before October 26, 2026, and meet all other eligibility criteria, you can vote any time during the voting period, even before you turn 18.

Yes, if you are a student and consider your “home” to be the place where you live when you are not attending school (i.e., you plan on returning there), then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality where you currently live while attending school. 

Only eligible voters can cast their ballot in the 2026 Municipal Elections. Contact Clarington’s Election Staff immediately at votes@clarington.net or 905-697-4747 to be removed from the voters’ list and have the PIN deactivated. 

If you receive a voter information letter that is not yours, you can write “Return to Sender” and drop it in the mail, or drop it off at any of the following locations: 

• Municipal Administrative Centre, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville 
• Clarington Public Library branch 
• Election Assistance Centre 

A contributor cannot make contributions exceeding a total of $1,200 to any one candidate in an election. This limit is never to be exceeded, regardless of the number of offices a candidate may have been nominated for during an election period.

In addition, a contributor cannot make contributions totalling more than $5,000 to multiple candidates for office on the same council or local board.

It is also important to note that cash contributions over $25 are not to be accepted by, or on behalf of, a candidate. Any contributions that exceed $25 must be contributed in a manner that associates the contributor’s name and account with the payment or by a money order signed by the contributor. 

Taking a picture of a completed ballot – yours or anyone else’s – is a violation of the Municipal Elections Act because it violates the secrecy of the vote.

It is also a violation of the Act to publish a photo on your social media channels or elsewhere of a completed ballot. 

If you have questions about the placement of election signs in Clarington, please contact the Municipal Law Enforcement Office at bylawenforcement@clarington.net or 905-623-3379 ext. 2105. 

If you have a complaint about election signs in Clarington, please report it using the Service Clarington portal.

Each eligible voter can only vote once in the 2026 Clarington Municipal Elections, regardless of how many properties they own. It’s the law. If convicted of voter fraud, you may face: 

• A fine of up to $25,000. 
• Jail time up to six months. 

November 23, 2026.

You can assist with the technology. If you are assisting with pressing the buttons to vote for a particular candidate, you must have the voter's consent, and the voter must be able to confirm that you voted the way they intended. 

If a voter requests assistance, but not within an Election Activity Area.  

About two minutes. 

Please call 905-697-4747 for assistance or visit an Election Assistance Centre or Clarington Public Library branch. 

If a voting session is interrupted at any time before the voter confirms their vote, the voter can simply re-enter the voting system and complete their ballot. 

If you are experiencing issues accessing the voting web address, please make sure you are entering the web address into your browser search bar (not the search engine) exactly as shown on your voter information letter. 

Online voting sessions automatically time out after 40 minutes of inactivity for security reasons. After 30 minutes of inactivity, a warning pop‑up will appear giving you the option to remain logged in by clicking “OK.” 

If your session times out: 

• Your ballot has not been submitted 
• You will need to log in again and restart the voting process 

No votes are recorded until you complete the entire ballot and click “Submit Ballot.” 

Yes, you may exit the voting system and return later as long as you have not clicked “Submit Ballot.” Your vote will only be recorded once the ballot is fully completed and submitted. 

Try logging in to the online voting system again: 

• If your ballot has already been submitted, the system will not allow you to log in. 
• If your ballot has not been submitted, you will be able to continue with the voting process. 

Contact the Municipal Clerk’s Division immediately at votes@clarington.net or 905-697-4747. 

No, the system does not track how a voter has voted, only that the PIN has been used to submit a ballot. 

Votes are encrypted at all times. No one can manipulate them, including Election Officials. 

No, once a ballot has been submitted, it cannot be changed. 

When accessing the voting website, HTTPS and a padlock icon will appear in the address bar, confirming a secure connection. If you get a message indicating that the site's digital certificate does not match the address where it connects to (or a similar message), you may be accessing a fake site. If this happens, please call 905-697-4747 immediately.