--- title: "Questions about voche.me and the Ottawa 2026 election | voche.me" canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/faq" last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:05:15.003Z" meta: description: "Where voche.me’s candidate profiles come from, how to find your ward, how school board voting works and how to report a mistake." "og:description": "Where voche.me’s candidate profiles come from, how to find your ward, how school board voting works and how to report a mistake." "og:title": "Questions about voche.me and the Ottawa 2026 election" "twitter:description": "Where voche.me’s candidate profiles come from, how to find your ward, how school board voting works and how to report a mistake." "twitter:title": "Questions about voche.me and the Ottawa 2026 election" --- ** QUESTIONS # Questions about voche.me.
Are the candidate profiles real? Yes. Every profile is a person on the City of Ottawa’s list of certified candidates. The City’s list is the source for each name, office and ward or zone. A candidate whose withdrawal the City shows is left off.
How do I find my ward? Use the “Who is running in my ward?” tool on the City of Ottawa website. The City says you enter your address to see the certified candidates for mayor, councillor and school board trustee that you can vote for, and to check your ward name and number. Then open that ward on this site to see who is running.
Who can vote? The City of Ottawa says an eligible elector must, on voting day, be a resident of Ottawa, or an owner or tenant of land in the City, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant. The elector must also be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old, and not prohibited from voting by law.
Which school board do I vote for? The board you support. The City of Ottawa runs the vote for 37 trustee positions in four boards: the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board (English), and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario and the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (French). The City says an eligible elector is automatically a supporter of the English-language public board unless the elector has changed their school board support.
Is voche.me an official City of Ottawa website? No. voche.me is an independent guide, separate from the City of Ottawa, the school boards and candidates. We link to the City wherever a page depends on official information, such as voting places, hours and identification.
When can I vote? General voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026. The City lists special advance voting days on October 1, 2, 3 and 4, advance voting day on October 16 and voting day on October 26, with voting places open from 10 am to 8 pm. A few long term care facilities and retirement homes may have shorter hours.
Can I vote by proxy or by mail? The City of Ottawa lists both. An elector may appoint a proxy from September 1 to October 26 at 4:30 pm. The City says the period to apply for a special mail-in ballot ended at 4:30 pm on September 15, and a completed special mail-in ballot has to be received by 8 pm on October 16 to be counted.
What does an empty section on a profile mean? It records that voche.me has not yet added sourced material there. The candidate may well have a position, and the page will show it once a public source confirms it.
Who writes the research on the candidate pages? For this election, an automated process reads public sources and writes the research, following published standards for sourcing and for how claims about real people are stated. A person does not review each page before it is published. Every page lists its sources, and the report form reaches the editors.
[Check the City of Ottawa’s official voting information](https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/elections/voters/information-voters). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.