Sudbury mayoral incumbent 'disgusted' by election night delays

The incumbent mayoral candidate in Sudbury says he is disgusted by Sudbury's "failure in the election process."

On Monday, the city announced that due to issues with its election service provider, the voting period in Greater Sudbury is extended until 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Polls were set to close Monday at 8 p.m.

"As a candidate and the leader of this city, I am demanding an explanation by the City of Greater Sudbury senior staff who put this process in place and why there was no back up plan in place," Brian Bigger said.

"Sudbury voters were let down. I am demanding a thorough investigation, analysis of what went wrong and those responsible will be held accountable."

This is the first year Greater Sudbury has held complete online voting in the municipal election.

Sudbury mayoral candidate Cody Cacciotti expressed his disappointment in the system.

"Since the beginning, my campaign team was been inundated with voters who were unhappy with the completely electronic voting," he said.

"This voting emergency and last minute extension shows the lack of a backup plan that should have been in place to contend with this avoidable outcome."

Third party provider to blame

Some voters agree having an option to cast a ballot on paper would be better, including Sudbury's Meaghan Wilson. She says she tried to vote for 45 minutes before giving up.

"It was easier to go in and cast it in person," she said.

Dominion Voting Systems says a third party provider is to blame. It says on Monday night, voters in 51 different communities across Ontario experienced slow traffic in the system.

"Our company was unaware of this issue until our municipal customers and their voters reached out to us for assistance or to share complaints," the company stated.

"It is important to note that at no time was the integrity of the system at risk of compromise or in any way, insecure."