Advanced polling starts Friday for Hamilton municipal election

As of Friday morning, Hamiltonvoters canbegin tocast their ballots in this month'smunicipal election.

Advanced polling dates allow voting ahead of election day onOct. 7 and 14, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Oct. 8, and 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be one advanced polling location in each of Hamilton's 15 wards. Those locations are:

• Dalewood Recreation Centre,1152 Main Street West (Ward 1)
• Bennetto Recreation Centre,450 Hughson Street North (Ward 2)
• Bernie Morelli Recreation Centre,876 Cannon Street East (Ward 3)
• Sir Winston Churchill Recreation Centre,1709 Main Street East (Ward 4)
• Stoney Creek Recreation Centre,45 King St. West (Ward 5)
• Huntington Park Recreation Centre,87 Brentwood Drive (Ward 6)
• Sackville Hill Seniors Centre, 780 Upper Wentworth Street (Ward 7)
• Westmount Recreation Centre,35 Lynbrook Drive(Ward 8)
• Valley Park Recreation Centre,970 Paramount Drive(Ward 9)
• Saltfleet Community Centre,605 Highway 8 (Ward 10)
• Glanbrook Arena,4300 Binbrook Road, Glanbrook(Ward 11)
• Ancaster Rotary Centre,385 Jerseyville Road West, Ancaster(Ward 12)
• Dundas Lions Memorial Community,10 Market Street South, Dundas (Ward 13,Oct. 7/8)
• Beverly Arena,680 Highway 8, Rockton (Ward 13, Oct. 14/15)
• Chedoke Twin Pad,91 Chedmac Drive (Ward 14)
• Harry Howell Arena, 27 Highway 5 West, Flamborough(Ward 15)

Oct 24 is election day across Ontario.

In order to vote, Canadian citizens over the age of 18 will have to show an ID with their name and address.

If someone doesn't have an ID, they can still vote after filling out a Declaration of Identity - Form 9 at a voting location.

Citizens must also be on the voters' list. However, they don't need to be in order to head to the polls on election day, as they can be added there.

People without a permanent address can also vote. They can list the place where they've returned to most often to eat or sleep in the past five weeks as their home.

Community members will not be able to vote if they:

• Are serving a sentence in prison or correctional institution,
• Are not Canadian citizens, or
• Are under the age of 18.

Voters can also have an immediate family member like a spouse, sibling, parent, children, grandparents, or grandchildren vote on their behalf by filling the Appointment for Voting Proxy Form 3 and having the city clerk or designate certify it in person.

You can book an appointment by emailing elections@hamilton.ca or by calling 905-546-4365.

Hamilton is divided into 15 wards. Citizens will only be able to vote in their ward.

As for school board trustee elections, all voters are automatically eligible to vote for the English-language public school board.

That's not the case for the Catholic board, public French board, or Catholic French board, for which you must indicate support through the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

To vote for the Catholic or French Catholic board, you must be Roman Catholic. To vote for the French public school board, you must be a French-language rights holder.