GUELPH POLITICAST #348 – What’s Next? Part 2: The Next Election

Last week, we covered the transition from the previous council to the new, and this week, we look far-ish into the future to the next election, the one in October 2026. You will hear in this podcast that planning for the next election begins almost immediately after the one that’s just completed, because there are a lot of complicated questions that need to be answered before the time comes to vote again.

Now you may not be really in a mood to think about voting again; we’ve had three elections in the last 13 months, but elections don’t grow on trees, so to speak. Thousands of  hours go into planning, setting up, and executing an election, and in the case of municipal elections, it’s just one of the functions of the City department responsible for overseeing and executing the public meetings of council and committees. 

There's a lot to consider before the next election, and only some of it is under the clerks' control. They're probably going to talk about internet voting as a way of encouraging anemic voter turnout, in addition to being a way to make the election generally more accessible. By the 2026 election, the list of electors should be moved from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to Elections Ontario, so that's one problem solved, but what are the other issues?

Stephen O’Brien, who is the City Clerk for the City of Guelph, joins us again to answer that question and more. He will talk about internet voting, and the arguments for and against. O'Brien will also discuss how his staff examines the potential voting methods, and whether increasing voter turnout should be a consideration in decisions made by his office. And finally, he will talk about updating campaign rules, and the effect of misinformation and conspiracies on his job.

So let's talk about the 2026 election on this 2022 edition of the Guelph Politicast!

The Have Your Say survey for post-election feedback is now closed, but you can still get in touch with the clerks office at clerks [at] guelph.ca. The next council meeting is Tuesday November 22 at 10 am to discuss the City response to Bill 23, and that report will be posted on the City’s council calendar page on Friday. You can still sign up to delegate for that meeting any time before this Friday at 10 am by clicking here.

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