Election results

Many municipalities will report unofficial voting results on the night of the election.

The results of a municipal election are not official until the clerk makes the declaration. This usually happens a few days after voting day, after the clerk has had time to check the results and make sure that all of the votes have been counted properly.

Recounts

The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 requires an automatic recount only if the votes are tied.

Your municipal council or school board may have a policy that sets out other reasons for an automatic recount.

If you feel there should be a recount, and the rules for an automatic recount don’t apply, you can ask the municipal council or school board to order a recount. Any recounts must be ordered within 30 days after the clerk has declared the results of the election.

If you are an eligible voter, you can also apply to the Superior Court of Justice to ask a judge to order a recount.

Recounts must be done the same way that the votes were originally counted, unless the recount is ordered by the court. For example, if the votes were counted by a vote tabulator, they may not be counted by hand during the recount.

If a recount is ordered by the court, the judge may order that the votes be counted in a different manner if the judge believes that the way the votes were counted the first time was an issue.

Compliance audits

Each municipality and school board must appoint a compliance audit committee.

Every candidate and every third party advertiser must file a financial statement which reports their contributions and expenses.

If you are an eligible voter and you believe, on reasonable grounds, that a candidate or a third party advertiser has contravened the election finance rules, you may apply for a compliance audit of the candidate’s or the third party advertiser’s finances.

The application must be in writing and must set out the reasons why you believe that the candidate or third party advertiser has contravened the rules.

An application for a compliance audit must be submitted to the municipal clerk within 90 days of the filing deadline. The deadline for candidates and third party advertisers to file their financial statements is the last Friday in March following the election (March 31, 2023).

The deadline for a candidate to file a supplementary financial statement is the last Friday in September (September 29, 2023). If a candidate files a supplementary financial statement, an application for a compliance audit may be submitted within 90 days of the supplementary filing deadline.