After the polls close on election night, unofficial results, which give the number of votes cast for each candidate, are posted on our website as they are reported by the Returning Officer. These results do not include a breakdown of poll-by-poll results.

A few days after the election, the Returning Officer conducts the official tabulation. At the end of this process, the Returning Officer provides a final report for each poll to the Chief Electoral Officer with the total number of marked, declined, unmarked and rejected ballots.

Upon receipt of the official tabulation report from the Returning Officer, the Chief Electoral Officer declares the results official and then publishes a notice in the Ontario Gazette with the names of the candidates elected as Members of Provincial Parliament. This report is also published on our website.

The Chief Electoral Officer later tables the official results, called the Election Returns with Statistics from the Records, in the Legislative Assembly. This report includes the final count of electors.