Information for Electors with Special Needs

Elections Ontario’s Outreach Program helps ensure a fair and accessible election process for all Ontario electors, through a two-way information exchange with stakeholder organizations serving people with special needs.

The Program’s ongoing mandate is to ensure electors with special needs are able to participate in the electoral process. Our Program addresses the variety of needs that may arise as a result of disability, culture or residential issues among the following communities:

We will continue to accommodate the needs of electors through effective, established products and services, including:

Community Relationships

• Partnerships with a range of stakeholder organizations to disseminate information to electors with special needs through their communications channels, including member newsletters, web sites and community networks
• Community liaison officers operating out of our local Elections Ontario returning offices, who will work with homeless, student, ethno-cultural and aboriginal communities to prepare electors to register and vote
• An Aboriginal Relations Coordinator who will support our aboriginal liaison officers in working with First Nations communities to provide to electors information on registration and voting, and
• Sensitivity training to election officers and poll workers.

Information to Electors

Information through a range of channels and in diverse formats, including:

•  Information printed in Braille and large print, also available on our website in downloadable format
• Audio versions through Voiceprint, also available on request from Elections Ontario on CD or cassette
•  Material in plain/clear language for service providers, helpers and electors
•  Information flyers in food boxes through Ontario Association of Foodbanks
• Material in other languages
• Closed captioning of our television advertising

Information kits to administrators of:

• Homeless shelters, to reach and disseminate information to homeless electors
• Women’s shelters, distributed through Ministry of Community and Social Services, to reach and disseminate information to electors in those shelters
• Correctional institutions on proxy voting by inmates

Elections Ontario Contact Centre

• Access by telephone, TTY or email
• Call Centre agents who are trained in responding to diverse needs
• Call Centre service in multiple languages

Access to Registration and Voting Opportunities

• Registration and polls in long-term care facilities
• Option for electors with restricted mobility to transfer to another poll in the same electoral district for more convenient access
• Increase in the number of advance poll days for more opportunities to choose the best time and location to vote
• Option for elector who is unable to vote in person to have another qualified elector in the electoral district to vote on his or her behalf.

Access and Accommodations at the Poll

• Wheelchair accessible returning offices and advance polls
• Assistance available from the deputy returning officer or from a friend
• Support from a sign language interpreter to communicate with poll officials – this must be pre-arranged through the Canadian Hearing Society’s Ontario Interpreting Services
• Option to have the ballot box brought to the door of the polling place for electors who are not able to enter
• Directional signage and clear-language posters at the poll
• Magnifiers for people with low vision
• Pens and pads for communication by people who are deaf with the poll officials
• Ballot templates with raised numbers, Braille and cutouts to assist voters in marking their ballots

For more information on products and services available to electors call 1-888-668-8683. TTY for people who are deaf or hard of hearing: 1-888-292-2312.