Who is eligible to vote in a municipal elections? 

A person is entitled to be an elector at an election held in a local municipality if, on Voting Day (October 26, 2026) they:

• reside in the local municipality or is the owner or tenant of land in the local municipality, or the spouse of such owner or tenant;
• is a Canadian citizen;
• is at least 18 years olf; and
• is not prohibited from voting under subsection 17(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, or otherwise by law. 

Your name must be on the voters' list in order for you to cast a ballot. 

Students

There is a special rule for students who may be living away from home while they attend school. If you are a student and consider your "home" to be the place where you live when you are not attending school (i.e. you plan on returning there), then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality where you currently live while attending school.

Voting in more than 1 Municipality

If you qualify to vote in more than one municipality, you can vote in all of those municipal elections. For example, if you qualify as a resident elector in 1 municipality, and a non-resident elector in 3 other municipalities, you can vote in all 4 of those municipal elections.

Wards
The Village of Merrickville-Wolford is comprised of 2 Wards. You must vote in the Ward where you live.
If you are also the owner or tenant of a property in another ward, you are not permitted to vote in that Ward instead.

Make sure that you are on the voters’ list for that qualifying address.

Who is not eligible to vote in a municipal elections? 

• A person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution.
• A corporation.
• A person acting as executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity, except as a voting proxy in accordance with section 44 of the Municipal Elections Act.
• A person who was convicted of the corrupt practice described in subsection 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act(External link), if voting day in the current election is less than five years after voting day in the election in respect of which he or she was convicted.

Who is eligible to vote in a school board election?

An individual is elgible to vote in a school board election if they are:

• a Canadian citizen;
• at least 18 years old on Voting Day;
• a resident of the Village of Merrickville-Wolford or the owner or tenant of residential land in the Village of Merrickville-Wolford or are the spouse of such owner or tenant

If you are eligible to vote in a municipality because you are the owner or tenant (or spouse of an owner or tenant) of commercial property, you are not eligible to vote for a school trustee.

To determine which school board an individual is eligible to vote for, the following criteria is used:

• English language public school board - This is the default - unless you are qualified to vote for a separate or French board, you will vote for the English public school board in your area.
• English language separate school board - You must be Roman Catholic and you must be a separate school board supporter or the spouse of a separate school board supporter. If your spouse is a Roman Catholic and you are not, you are not eligible.
• French language public school board - You must be a French language rights holder and you must be a supporter (or the spouse of a supporter) of the French language public school board.
• French language separate school board - You must be a Roman Catholic and a French language rights holder and you must be a supporter (or the spouse of a supporter) of the French separate school board. If your spouse is a Roman Catholic and you are not, you are not eligible.

"Supporter" refers to which school board the school portion of your property taxes goes to. The default is the public school system. In order to be a separate school supporter you must direct your taxes to the separate school system. Contact the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (External link) (1-866-296-6722) for more information.

As a Canadian citizen, voting is your right and responsibility. Your community is shaped by the outcome of an election.

The individuals who are elected will make many important decisions including how tax dollars are spent in your community.

Next Election Day - Monday, October 26, 2026

The Voters' List is a list of people who are eligible to vote in the 2026 Municipal Election. 

In order to receive voting information and to be able to vote you must be on the Voter's List. Since there are eligibility requirements to be able to vote, the Municipality cannot add someone to the list without them declaring that they meet those requirements, which are noted below.

You are entitled to vote in the Municipal Election if on Voting Day you:

• reside in the local municipality, or is the owner or tenant of land in the local municipality, or the spouse of such owner or tenant;
• are a Canadian citizen;
• are at least 18 years old; and 
• are no tprohibited from voting under subsection 17(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 or otherwise, by law.

Confirm/Update/Add Your Information

ONLINE

Elections Ontario maintains the Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario, also known as the Voter's List, which is used for both provincial and municipal elections.

You can confirm, update, or add your information if you:

• Have changed your name or address
• Own or rent a new property
• No longer own or rent a property
• Want to remove your information from the Register

Visit RegisterToVoteOn.ca or call 1-866-242-3025 to get started.

IN PERSON

If you are eligible to vote in 2026, a copy of the EL15 form (Application to Amend Voters' List) will be made available in the coming weeks/months. You will be able to submit a signed form with eligible ID at the Municipal Office during regular business hours.

Once the Voters' Guide from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is available, it will be updated here for reference.

As of January 1, 2024, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is no longer responsible for collecting voter information for local elections. However, MPAC is legisaltively required to collect school support designations.

Homeowners and tenants have until June 1, 2026 to update their school support designations to be accurately included on the Preliminary List of Electors ahead of the 2026 municipal and school board elections.

Update your school support through MPAC's School Support Designation toolkit. 

As a property owner in Ontario, you are required to support a school system, even if you do not have children or your children are not currently attending school. This information can be found on your Property Assessment Notice. For more information about school support designations, visit the MPAC website.