Almost 20,000 ballots to be re-printed in Kitchener for upcoming municipal election

Expect some sunshine on your election ballot next month.

It comes after a candidate filed an application in court disputing a call by the city clerk to just include the first and last names of candidates to make the process easy for voters.

Electoral officials will re-print nearly 20,000 ballots to include the middle name “Sunshine” for Kitchener City Council candidate Regan Sunshine Brusee, running for election in Ward 2.

A court date was set for October 3rd in the case, and officials with the city were worried the outcome might jeopardize the city's ability to deliver a credible election.

They decided to make the change in time to meet the dates set for advance polling.

Along with reprinting approximately 19,500 ballots for Ward 2, the city will be reprogramming memory cards and tabulator machines. 

The clerk says to ensure fairness, they reached out to 11 additional candidates who included a middle name or middle initial on their application and gave them the option of including their middle name on the ballot.

The city says those 11 candidates were satisfied with their first and last names printed on the ballot.

In a release, the City of Kitchener says “the city stands behind the clerk's original decision to include first and last names on the ballot only, which is compliant with the Municipal Election Act. Significant work has been underway for the past 18 months to prepare for and run the 2018 municipal election. The decision to reprint ballots and reprogram election equipment at additional costs to taxpayers was not made lightly; it was made with the best interests of the electorate in mind.”