Voting extended in Ottawa Valley due to internet slow-down

Several communities in the Ottawa Valley are extending voting into a second day due to problems with internet and telephone voting.

The Township of Laurentian Valley, City of Pembroke, Town of Petawawa, Town of Renfrew and Township of Whitewater Region have all declared an emergency under the Municipal Elections Act, which allows them to extend voting.

The municipalities will allow internet and telephone voting again tomorrow, and will also allow voters to cast ballots in person from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m at municipal offices.

Dominion Voting, the company providing online voting for 51 municipalities in the province, said in a statement itdiscovered its bandwidth was being limited around 6 p.m., which led to the problems.

"Dominion regrets the challenges that our system load issue posed for both election officials and voters alike in today's elections. We appreciate the public's patience in resolving this matter."

The company said it was confident the integrity of the election had not been impacted.

"We want to assure Ontario voters that we will work to ensure this problem does not occur in future elections. It is important to note that at no time was the integrity of the system at risk of compromise, or in any way insecure."

Several other municipalities in the province have taken similar steps.