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HomeNewsUPDATED: High volume causing problems with internet voting, polls extended across Muskoka

UPDATED: High volume causing problems with internet voting, polls extended across Muskoka

Voters in Muskoka are getting a whole extra day to cast their ballots.

Bracebridge, Huntsville, Lake of Bays, Muskoka Lakes and Gravenhurst have all extended the polls to 8:00pm tomorrow night. Each of the municipalities is reporting technical problems with the internet and phone voting systems.

Kayla Thibeault, Director of Legislative Services/Returning Official for Gravenhurst, says the decision to extend the voting time was a consensus between the clerks of the affected municipalities.

“We noticed some slowing, some stalling, some taking a long time to click between screens and to eventually click ‘cast your vote.’  We flagged with the vendor as soon as we became aware and as the day progressed we’ve been on hourly conference calls with the vendor and other municipalities affected across Ontario.”

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The election is being facilitated by a company called Dominion Voting Systems. They’re experiencing a far higher level of traffic than was expected. Although there weren’t any reports of issues before tonight, Thibeault says “much like any other election of any level government voter turnout really happens in the last couple hours of any election.”

On it’s Facebook page, DVS says the problem was caused by a Toronto internet company putting a limit on the incoming traffic caused by voters. The glitch stalled online voting for just over an hour in 51 communities according to the company.

At this time Thibeault isn’t sure whether the election registration has been extended, or just the polls. “I have to confirm with the legislation.  Right now it says voters can make up until the close of the election, so I have to confirm with some colleagues before that time.”

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