The Municipality of Callander has sent out "Vote by Mail" kits to all residents, and you should have received one this past week. If not, keep checking the mailbox, but if it does not arrive in the next few days, reach out to the municipal office, specifically the town’s clerk, to ensure you are on the list and to receive a kit.
The vote-by-mail kit includes one ballot, a white secrecy envelope for that ballot, a page with instructions and a declaration form, and one yellow envelope to mail your vote in or drop it off at the municipal office before voting day.
“We encourage electors to vote by mail,” the municipality explained, “or drop your return envelope off at one of the secure locations listed in your vote-by-mail kit.”
In-person voting is available on election day—October 24th—at the Callander Community Centre. However, bring your vote-by-mail kit with you. If you do not bring it along, you will need to complete a form and make a declaration that you have not already cast a vote. Bring government-issued identification, and you will be issued a new ballot.
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Voting at the Community Centre is “intended mostly for the purpose of those who have not received a vote by mail kit,” the municipality clarified, or those “who need to be added to the voters' list or who need assistance with voting.”
So, what if your home receives a kit for someone who no longer lives there? The municipality asks that you return that to the clerk’s office, and do not forward it “even if you know the address,” of the previous resident “as they may no longer be eligible to vote” in the municipality.
The municipality also notes that if there is more than one voter in a house, you may return them all in one envelope. However, be sure each individual vote is contained with its own security envelope.
For more information, or to receive a vote by mail kit, contact the clerk’s office at 705-752-1410 or by email to [email protected]. Elaine Gunnell is Callander’s clerk, and Cindy Pigeau is the deputy clerk.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
