Online voting systems delay election results across Ontario

Many voters in Ontario will continue to cast ballots Tuesday after technical difficulties forced at least a dozen municipalities to extend voting in local elections.

Dominion Voting Systems, a company that provides tabulation systems in Canada and the U.S., said in a statement that 51 municipalities were impacted by a glitch that stalled online voting for at least 90 minutes.

While many impacted communities kept polls open for one or two extra hours, several opted to declare emergencies under the Municipal Elections Act and extend voting for a full day.

Some of those municipalities include Pembroke, Waterloo, Prince Edward County, Greater Sudbury, and several communities in the Muskoka region.

The rest of Ontario’s 417 municipal races went off without technical trouble, but there was no lack of drama.

Dominion attributed Monday’s election-night delays to “slow traffic” it blamed on an unnamed Toronto “internet co-location provider” for placing a limit on incoming voting traffic. Dominion said the issue was eventually resolved, but many voters still complained of problems.

“Dominion regrets the challenges that our system-load issue posed for both election officials and voters alike,” the company said in its statement. “It is important to note that at no time was the integrity of the system at risk of compromise, or in any way insecure.”