2022 Municipal Election: Council Races

[ShonTron]

Very good question. Her name obviously stays on the ballot, and it depends how many people voted by mail and at advanced polls, and how well the news travels between now and Monday.

If she wins, I expect there will be an immediate byelection. I think Tory and his allies would prefer that outcome because the only major challenger is left-of-centre candidate Jamaal Myers. Tory has endorsed Lai.

There will not be a by-election. Any vote for Lai will be null and void, according to the city.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583615768494604288

 

[Richard White]

There will not be a by-election. Any vote for Lai will be null and void, according to the city.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583615768494604288

Not to sound insensitive but I am glad this happened now and not a week from now. Can you imagine what would happen if she died a week after winning reelection?

That ward would be immediately back at the polls.

 

[christiesplits]

There will not be a by-election. Any vote for Lai will be null and void, according to the city.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583615768494604288

Wow, was not expecting this.

 

[AlxOptimism]

Anti-austerity and pro-housing candidate Jamaal Myers issues a statement of condolences for Lai's family:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583601555135401985

The latest polls had the remaining votes 17% Jamaal and 25% for Jones, looks like it will be a close race decided by the Lai vote

 

[christiesplits]

Anti-austerity and pro-housing candidate Jamaal Myers issues a statement of condolences for Lai's family:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583601555135401985

The latest polls had the remaining votes 17% Jamaal and 25% for Jones, looks like it will be a close race decided by the Lai vote

What's also odd is the absence of a Chinese candidate in a ward with a massive Chinese population. In 2018, both the first and second place candidates were Chinese.

I'm willing to bet Tory and Kouvalis are pumping huge resources into the ward this weekend to prevent a Jamaal win.

 

[Jonny5]

I recall a long time ago, I think it would be the mid-90s, there was a Canadian TV show where this actually happened. I think it was on CBC and I remember it was played mostly as a comedy, but it didn't have a laugh track. There was a guy running for election (for mayor of Toronto ?) who was very polished but also very dumb, and much of the show was about the extremely jaded and cynical campaign staff running around putting out the fires he started while campaigning. By the end, the public mostly hated him and he was destined to lose, but on the election day he had a heart attack, and in a surprise sympathy vote, he won. In the final scene of the show, they find this out sitting beside him at his hospital bed, and were about to all celebrate but they then realised he had just actually died.

Can someone help me remember what show that was? Somehow I think it was connected to another show, like a spinoff? Because most of the cast were in that other show which I think was called The Newsroom? It was about a local news station (note it was not the show ENG, it was a different one which also played as a comedy but with no laugh track).

 

[Richard White]

Anti-austerity and pro-housing candidate Jamaal Myers issues a statement of condolences for Lai's family:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583601555135401985

The latest polls had the remaining votes 17% Jamaal and 25% for Jones, looks like it will be a close race decided by the Lai vote

Realistically they should just be voiding the election and having a by-election in a couple of weeks.

It is not fair to the people who voted for Cynthia to have their voted not count. They should at least be given the choice to vote for the person they want to represent them.

Unfortunately, this close to an election it is virtually impossible to void the election for a councillor.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Wonder how many people watch, listen, or read the news, but will still vote for the Cynthia on election day?

 

[toaster29]

There will definitely be lawsuits against the city for this. Purposely denying people's votes (mostly visible minority voters from Scarborough) - this is US style politics. Telling people who voted for someone that their vote will not count, and they can't cast another. Insanely anti democratic. This will not hold up in court. There should be a by-election.

 

[picard102]

I don't think they'll be successful in court and it would be a big waste of their money to try.

Under subsection 39(a) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (MEA), if a certified candidate for an office dies and another candidate would not be elected by acclamation as a result, then the election shall proceed as if the candidate had not been nominated.

A by-election seems frankly wasteful at this point. Lots of people regret their advance votes, we don't allow them to change them either.
Voters will be notified of her death at the polls, and can vote accordingly.

 

[Jonny5]

I recall a long time ago, I think it would be the mid-90s, there was a Canadian TV show where this actually happened. I think it was on CBC and I remember it was played mostly as a comedy, but it didn't have a laugh track. There was a guy running for election (for mayor of Toronto ?) who was very polished but also very dumb, and much of the show was about the extremely jaded and cynical campaign staff running around putting out the fires he started while campaigning. By the end, the public mostly hated him and he was destined to lose, but on the election day he had a heart attack, and in a surprise sympathy vote, he won. In the final scene of the show, they find this out sitting beside him at his hospital bed, and were about to all celebrate but they then realised he had just actually died.

Can someone help me remember what show that was? Somehow I think it was connected to another show, like a spinoff? Because most of the cast were in that other show which I think was called The Newsroom? It was about a local news station (note it was not the show ENG, it was a different one which also played as a comedy but with no laugh track).

Ah I found a clip on YouTube of the end, featuring some cameos from some famous Ontario politicians

 

[toaster29]

I don't think they'll be successful in court and it would be a big waste of their money to try.



A by-election seems frankly wasteful at this point. Lots of people regret their advance votes, we don't allow them to change them either.
Voters will be notified of her death at the polls, and can vote accordingly.

I've heard talks that there is some precedent in Canada that goes counter to what Toronto is doing here - not sure, I'm trying to find these examples. If Cynthia had died on election day would things change? What about the day after? It's insensitive to speak this way, but she died during the voting period of this election (Yes, advanced voting is voting). The interpretation that 39(a) applies only before Election Day (as opposed to before when voting takes place - ie. before advanced polls) seems to be up for debate. There will definitely be freedom of info requests for vote tallies in this riding if Toronto doesn't release the Lai votes publicly.

 

[picard102]

I've heard talks that there is some precedent in Canada that goes counter to what Toronto is doing here - not sure, I'm trying to find these examples. If Cynthia had died on election day would things change? What about the day after? It's insensitive to speak this way, but she died during the voting period of this election (Yes, advanced voting is voting). The interpretation that 39(a) applies only before Election Day (as opposed to before when voting takes place - ie. before advanced polls) seems to be up for debate. There will definitely be freedom of info requests for vote tallies in this riding if Toronto doesn't release the Lai votes publicly.

Seems like we'd end up just not having advanced voting at all then going forward.

 

[Richard White]

I don't think they'll be successful in court and it would be a big waste of their money to try.



A by-election seems frankly wasteful at this point. Lots of people regret their advance votes, we don't allow them to change them either.
Voters will be notified of her death at the polls, and can vote accordingly.

There is a difference here.

The people you mention who regret voting in advance at least voted for a candidate who was alive and standing a chance. In the case of Ward 23, there vote is null and void, it does not count and they may or may not have regretted it. We just do not know.

The logical option would have been to void the Councilor Election for Ward 23 and host a by-election after given the circumstances. It would be the only fair option in order to allow those who voted for Cynthia Lai to have their voices heard.

Cynthia Lai may have been the first choice of many but advance and mail in ballot voters would have voted differently IF she had died before they submitted their ballot.

There are likely going to be a few voters in Ward 23 who will be very unhappy that they were not given a choice to vote for a living candidate given the circumstances.

I voted for Gary Crawford in the election and if bit the big one tonight I would be p****d if Lorenzo won and I did not have a chance to cast my ballot for Parthi.

 

[PinkLucy]

She was alive when they voted. No one knew she would no longer be alive on Oct 24. If she had died in October 25 and had won, there would be a by election because the incumbent, not the candidate, had died. It’s a rare occurrence for any of this to happen, but there are rules in place.