Three-month nomination period opens on May 1, this year's race to be first Thunder Bay municipal election to use alternate methods of voting.

THUNDER BAY – In less than a month candidates looking to run in this year’s municipal election will be able to formally enter the race.

Candidates for mayor, city councillor and school board trustee in elections across Ontario can file their nomination papers beginning on May 1, a change from previous elections when the nomination window was opened on the first business day in January.

“That’s four months later than it has been in past elections,” city clerk and returning officer John Hannam said of the new nomination period.

“It’s a short three-month period for nominations. We’re still waiting for nomination forms and candidate information packages the province produces to arrive and hopefully we’ll have those (this week).”

The period to register as a candidate will extend to July 27, another change from previous elections when the cut-off was in September. This year's vote will take place on Oct. 22.

Another significant difference this year in Thunder Bay will be the introduction of alternate methods of voting, which will allow voters to cast their ballot either online or by telephone, in addition to physical polling stations.

Hannam said this year voters will receive their voter information notices in sealed envelopes, which will include an individual personal identification number required to use either of the new voting methods.

Benefits of the new methods include increased accessibility for persons with a disability to vote from home, audio aids for those visually impaired and the ability for residents to vote even if they’re not in the city on election day.

“They can vote in the municipal election from wherever they might be,” Hannam said. “They don’t have to be here in Thunder Bay. They can be away on business, on vacation or students away studying in other towns. They’ll have the opportunity to vote remotely and not have to give their votes over to a proxy or miss voting altogether.”

Election night in 2014 saw significant delays in results being made available, which Hannam said was attributed to a rush of last-minute voters at four locations that kept those polling stations open for an extra hour.

Shuniah, which used internet voting for the first time, had its results made publicly available almost immediately.

“It’ll speed up our ability to report results,” Hannam said. “With the internet voting, as soon as we close voting at 8 p.m. as long as all the polls close at 8 p.m. we’ll have the internet results instantaneously and we’ll be able to post those as soon as the polls are closed and then process the poll voting results as they come in.”

Hannam said the company the city is partnering with is conducting alternate voting in about 100 other Ontario communities and has systems developed and in place.

There have been mixed results about whether the ability to cast ballots online or over the phone increases voter turnout, he added. The city had about 46 per cent of eligible voters participate in 2014.

Hannam said the city is planning to have a public awareness campaign in the months leading up to the election which will include demonstrations around the community to show people how the system works and answer any questions.

A candidate information session is scheduled for April 19 at the West Thunder Community Centre beginning at 7 p.m.