Acclaimed Mayor Luke Charbonneau (left) toasted Saugeen Shores following an announcement by Town CAO David Smith that voting had been extended until 8 p.m. October 23 due to technical difficulties.

Hub Staff

Widespread technical difficulties across municipalities in Bruce and Grey counties through Dominion Voting Systems, the newly utilized online and telephone voting mechanism, has caused Town of Saugeen Shores officials to extend voting for the municipal election 24 hours, until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23.

CAO David Smith made the announcement to a crowded room of candidates, media and well-wishers at Lakeshore Recreation in Port Elgin and added that approximately 20 municipalities in Bruce County have also extended their voting period including: Northern Bruce Peninsula, Kincardine, Brockton, Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce.

Following Smith's announcement, acclaimed Mayor Luke Charbonneau took the opportunity to address the room and said that although the system issues were unfortunate, people of Saugeen Shores would still get the chance to vote. Charbonneau went on to say that he felt that the few months of campaigning had been outstanding.

“All the candidates did a great job, got all the issues out on the table... and I just want to say, 'Thank you,'" he said.

Charbonneau thanked everyone, from candidates to family members and volunteers, for all their hard work. "You really helped make this process work and bring the attention to the election for everybody in the community," he said before toasting Saugeen Shores.

In a Town of Saugeen Shores media release it was noted that the voting system went amiss at approximately 5:45 p.m. Monday, October 22. At around 10 a.m. Monday it was reported that 39 percent of eligible voters had taken the time to vote online, over the telephone or in person at the municipal office.

By 9 p.m. Monday evening, the voting system was reportedly back online.

Town of Saugeen Shores CAO David Smith announcing on October 22 that voting for the 2018 municipal election had been extended 24 hours until 8 p.m. October 23.

A collection of candidates and well wishers will have to wait 24 hours to find out the results of the 2018 municipal election.