Check in.
Attend your voting place and complete the usual eligibility and identification process. Receive your paper ballot.
YOUR BALLOT. YOUR CHOICE. / ONTARIO MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
Show up.
Stand for
none of them.
Between choosing a candidate and staying home, there’s another option: formally decline your ballot.
Know your optionsA choice recognized in Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act.
SHOW UP.MAKE A CHOICE.HAVE IT RECORDED.
01 / WHY DECLINE?
You can participate
without endorsing
a candidate.
Maybe no candidate has earned your vote. Maybe your objection goes deeper—to the system itself.
Declining a ballot can be a deliberate expression of dissent. You attend, receive your ballot and formally choose not to cast a vote for a candidate.
Because declined ballots are counted and reported, that decision becomes visible in the official record. The total records the choice, not the reason. It cannot tell us that every person who declined shares the same view.
02 / THE PAPER BALLOT PROCESS
Three steps.
One clear choice.
For in-person paper voting in an Ontario municipal election. Check your municipality’s arrangements before you go.
Say it clearly.
Tell the election official: “I wish to decline my ballot.” Return the ballot unmarked to the official.
Have it recorded.
The official marks the ballot “declined.” The number of declined ballots is made publicly available after the election.
Make the decision before you return it. Under section 52(5), an elector who formally declines is no longer entitled to vote. Ask the official first if you want to vote for some offices but not others.
03 / WHAT “COUNTED” MEANS
On the record.
Not in a candidate’s total.
Your choice is recorded.
Declined ballots have a reported total. People can see how many ballots were formally declined.
The election still has a result.
Declining does not give a vote to any candidate. There is no declined-ballot threshold that automatically cancels the election or forces new candidates to run.
Your reason is yours.
A declined ballot does not record a message or explanation. If you want your specific objection understood, you can choose to explain it publicly too.
04 / WRITTEN INTO LAW
This option
is on the books.
Two provisions of Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act, 1996 explain the process and public reporting.
Read the Act on Ontario e-LawsDeclining to vote
When an elector returns a ballot and indicates they are declining, the official marks it declined and the elector is no longer entitled to vote.
Public reporting
The clerk must make election information, including the number of declined and rejected ballots, available free of charge online or in another electronic format.
05 / ALREADY IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
Real elections.
Published totals.
Mississauga · 2024View official notice · PDF439Declined ballots reported
Toronto · 2022View official notice · PDF
These are examples of published reporting, not an Ontario-wide total or a measure of why people declined.
06 / BEFORE YOU DECIDE
Good questions.
Straight answers.
Is this the same as staying home?
No. Formally declining involves participating in the voting process and having the ballot recorded as declined. Staying home does not produce a declined ballot.
Can I decline online, by phone or by mail?
Voting methods and procedures vary by municipality. Do not assume that leaving selections blank online formally declines a ballot. Check your municipal clerk’s official instructions for the method you intend to use.
Can I vote for mayor but decline the other races?
Ask your election official before returning a ballot. Municipalities may combine several offices on one ballot, and leaving a race blank is not necessarily the same as formally declining the ballot.
Does declining force a new election?
No. A declined ballot is not a vote for a candidate or a binding “none of the above” option. Even a high declined total does not automatically invalidate the election. The candidates with the highest vote totals are declared elected under section 55(4).
Does this apply to provincial and federal elections?
This site explains Ontario municipal elections. Ontario provincial elections have their own declining provision under section 53 of the Election Act. Federal elections do not have the same separately recorded declining process. Always use the guidance for the election you are participating in.
Where can I find the totals in my municipality?
Look for official election results or a “declined and rejected ballots” notice on your municipality’s website. If you cannot find it, ask the municipal clerk for the information made available under section 55(4.1).
Go to the source.
Municipal Elections Act, 1996
Sections 52(5), 55(4) and 55(4.1): declining, outcomes and reporting.
Hamilton’s 2026 election results procedureSection 4.8 explains the public reporting requirement.
Elections Ontario: frequently asked questionsGuidance for provincial elections, which operate under a different Act.
Elections Canada: at the pollsFederal ballot procedures and the distinction from provincial declining.