Kawartha Lakes 2026 municipal election
This page separates confirmed facts, concerns, and requested remedies. Witness Your Vote does not claim that any confidentiality proves wrongdoing, and it does not declare fraud. It documents what is publicly known and what independent witnessing adds.
Confirmed facts
- 01Internet and telephone voting are authorized for the City of Kawartha Lakes 2026 municipal election.
- 02By-law No. 2025-136 authorizing the voting method was passed on November 18, 2025.
- 03The Clerk's election procedures identify Simply Voting Inc. as the voting system provider.
- 04The voting period runs from October 16, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. to October 26, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.
- 05The City has stated that paper ballots will not be available.
- 06The Clerk's procedures provide for voting system testing and for an auditor appointed by the Clerk.
- 07A third-party web-application security assessment / penetration test of the voting system is provided for.
- 08The official voting system records receipt codes and voter participation, but does not record which candidate a voter chose in a way that is available for public verification.
Sources: City of Kawartha Lakes By-law No. 2025-136 (passed November 18, 2025); the City Clerk's 2026 election procedures.
Concerns
- 01Electors cannot independently confirm, after the fact, that their recorded vote matched their intent — a limitation security researchers commonly identify in online voting systems.
- 02Some vendor and system records may be withheld or redacted under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), including records supplied in confidence or treated by a vendor as trade secrets or confidential commercial information. Confidentiality of this kind is lawful and common — and it also means the public cannot inspect every technical detail of the system.
- 03Without paper ballots there is no physical artifact to support a conventional recount.
Balanced research context: research commissioned by Elections Canada on online voting notes both potential benefits — accessibility and convenience for many electors — and ongoing challenges identified by security researchers, including verifiability, auditability, and the difficulty of publicly demonstrating that electronic counts are correct. That research does not conclude that any particular system is compromised, and neither does this platform.
Requested remedies
- 01Voluntary, independent witnessing of votes (this platform) to establish a documented minimum for participating candidates — comparable with official results after the close of voting.
- 02Public release, to the maximum lawful extent, of testing, audit, and security-assessment documentation.
- 03Consideration of paper ballots or voter-verifiable records in future elections.
- 04Where any apparent discrepancy arises, review strictly through the proper legal and election processes.
Voting: October 16 (9:00 a.m.) – October 26 (8:00 p.m.), 2026
After you vote, you can witness your vote here for a participating candidate.