Tomorrow, Wednesday February 25, Joe Horneck will make a presentation to Mississauga City Council on the topic of the city’s changes to voting locations in the upcoming Ward 4 by-election. Horneck is a registered candidate in the by-election scheduled for Monday April 27.
In the 2014 general election on October 27, there were 15 standard voting locations within ward 4 on election day. For the upcoming by-election, the City of Mississauga has announced there will only be 6 standard voting locations on election day, reducing the number by 9.
“Voters in ward 4 deserve to have the same opportunity to vote as previous by-elections and general elections,” advocates Horneck. “I am going to ask City Council to restore all the polling locations.”
“I believe it is the role of the city to encourage voter turnout and participation in our democracy. By increasing the distance for more residents to go and vote, the city is discouraging participation.”
Significantly changing the voting locations is unusual, and there is no custom or tradition for reducing voting locations during by-elections. For comparison, the most recent by-election in Mississauga was in 2011 in ward 5, and there were 14 voting locations, the same number there had been during the general election in 2010.
The Mississauga City Council meeting on February 25 begins at 9:00am. It is anticipated that Horneck’s presentation will be close to the beginning of the meeting.
