You Don't Actually Need ID To Vote In Canada's Federal Election & This Is The Workaround
All you need is a good friend to help you out! 👯
Another election day is almost upon us, but if you've left it to the last minute to figure out how to vote you may be asking yourself if you need ID to cast a ballot.
The good news is no, you don't, but you'll need someone else's help if you want to vote without any official ID proving your identity and address.
Showing ID like a driver's licence or other card issued by Canadian federal, provincial, territorial or local government that has your photo, name and current address is the easiest way to prove who you are.
However, you might have ID and not know it — the official list of accepted IDs includes such things as student IDs, letters from your school, leases, blood donor cards, library cards, income tax assessments and more. You don't need a photo ID, either, as long as you have two accepted pieces of ID and both have your name on them and one has your current address.
But if you don't have any of those forms of ID, you can still vote! All you need is someone to vouch for you. This person must know you personally, must have their own accepted ID and must be registered to vote at the same polling location. They also cannot have had their own identity vouched for, either, if they're going to vouch for you.
You can only vouch for one person in any given election unless you're an employee of an institution that houses seniors or people with disabilities; in that case, you can vouch for multiple people.
If all those conditions are met, your voucher will be asked to sign a written statement declaring that you are who you say you are, and then you can cast a ballot. Now the only hard part left is figuring out who to vote for in this year's election!