What you need to know about the upcoming byelections in Cambridge and Kitchener Centre

Not one - but two - byelections will be held in Waterloo Region this month.

Yesterday, the province announced the date for the provincial byelection in Kitchener Centre. Former NDP MPP Laura Mae Lindo resigned earlier this summer citing childcare challenges.

In Cambridge, online voting has already begun to choose a new representative for Ward 1. The seat has been vacant since municipal Councillor Donna Reid passed away in August.

KITCHENER

Voting day for the provincial byelection has been set for Nov. 30 and the candidates are: Debbie Chapman for the Ontario NDP, Aislinn Clancy for the Green Party of Ontario, Rob Elliott for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and Kelly Steiss for the Ontario Liberal Party.

CTV News spoke with Chapman, Clancy and Steiss on Thursday to find out why they’re running for Kitchener Centre MPP and the issues they care about. (Elliott did not respond to our request for an interview).

CAMBRIDGE

Michelle Goodridge, Richard Kaufman, Karl Kiefer and Helen Shwery are all vying for the Ward 1 council seat.

Online voting began on Oct. 30 with the first advanced poll on Nov. 1.

Another advance poll has been set for Nov. 4.

There’s also another way residents can cast a ballot.

“We are offering an at home voting option,” said Danielle Manton, the city clerk for Cambridge. “If we have residents in Ward 1 that for some reason aren’t able to get out to the poll and vote or maybe don’t have internet access at home, please contact 519-740-4680, ext. 4561. The city will arrange to come out to your home and assist you with administering the vote process.”

The official election will take place on Nov. 13.

“We will have four [voting] locations where people from Ward 1 can vote, [while] internet voting continues until Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.,” said Manton.

The winner will be announced the following day.

As of Nov. 2, 470 votes have already been cast.

Manton hopes more people will turnout than the 3,000 that voted in the 2022 Ward 1 race.

"It's one of our largest wards in Cambridge. It covers a lot of area, and I think there's been quite a bit of talk around filling that vacancy,” Manton said.

VOTER TURNOUT

Those who track elections aren’t optimistic about voter turnout.

Simon Kiss, a party politics expert at Wilfrid Laurier University, said it’s typically low for municipal election and even lower for a byelection.

“It’s all going to come down to personal networks and friendships,” he explained. “Turnout for byelections is always lower. People see them as less important. There’s less interest. So turnout will almost certainly be lower. That doesn’t mean the stakes are not small here.”

IMPORTANCE OF BYELECTION

There's another reason winning could be important in the upcoming Kitchener Centre byelection.

“On the opposition side, the Liberals and the NDP are jockeying to be seen as the alternative to the Ford government," said Kiss. "One of the reasons that the Ford government won was because the NDP and the Liberals split the vote.”

The Green Party of Ontario, meanwhile, has the federal seat in Kitchener Centre and a provincial seat in Guelph, so they are pushing hard to make more gains

“A byelection like this is a great opportunity for a party that is one of the smaller parties because voters can feel a bit more free to cast their vote for a party that is smaller... thinking that their vote won't be wasted,” Kiss explained.