With the ballots for the upcoming municipal election set to be mailed to Meaford voters on September 24, there is less than a week to ensure that you are on the voter's list.
To find out if you are on the list, or to have your name added, phone 519-538-1060 or visit the municipal office which is located at 21 Trowbridge Street West.
For those who are new to the municipality, or who may have forgotten, Meaford employs a mail-in ballot system for municipal elections. The ballots are mailed out by Toronto based company DataFix.
You can expect to receive your ballot package in the mail by the end of September and if you have not, you are advised to contact the municipal office.
The ballot package will contain four important parts:
- Voting instructions and declaration form
- The ballot
- A white ballot secrecy envelope
- Yellow return envelope
When you receive the package in the mail, first ensure that all four parts are included.
Voters must sign the highlighted section of the voter declaration form to certify that you are an eligible voter. Ballot packages returned without this signature will not be counted. The voter declaration is then separated from the voter instruction form and is placed in the yellow return envelope so that the address is visible through the window of the envelope.
Next is the fun part. Grab a pen and mark your preferred candidates with an 'X' in the boxes beside the candidate names.
Your completed ballot is then placed and sealed inside the ballot secrecy envelope which is then placed inside the yellow return envelope.
All that is left to do is to mail the ballot. No postage is required, and you can also hand deliver your completed ballot to the municipal office.
It will be very important to ensure that your ballot is mailed with enough time to allow for it to arrive prior to election day (Monday October 25) to ensure that your vote will count. Ballots can be delivered to the municipal office up to 8 pm on election day. After that time your vote will not be accepted or counted.
Any questions with regard to the voting process should be directed to the Clerk or Deputy Clerk at the municipal office.
