Elections Manitoba opens online voter registration

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This article was published 14/04/2019 (1836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Elections Manitoba has launched an online voter registration service.

Voters can visit the organization’s website (electionsmanitoba.ca) to check if they are registered to vote, update their information, or register to vote.

To be eligible to vote in a provincial election, a citizen must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, and a resident of the province for at least six months before the vote.

On the website, voters are prompted to enter their name, date of birth and address. If the voter’s record is found and the information is correct, they need do nothing more.

If the voter’s record is not found, or the voter would like to update their information, they will be prompted to enter their driver’s licence number or upload two pieces of ID.

In a news release Monday, Elections Manitoba encouraged voters to use the service if they are moving or will be moving, if they are first-time voters, or if they just want to make sure they’re registered.

A spokeswoman for Elections Manitoba said a mid-April launch of the online voter registration service had been in the works for some time — and was not rushed due to recent speculation of an imminent snap provincial election.

Unlike past elections, there will be no general voter enumeration this year. Elections Manitoba has moved to a permanent voters’ list, which it has been updating on an ongoing basis through information-sharing agreements with Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Health, Elections Canada and the provincial vital statistics department.

Elections Manitoba has said there will be targeted voter registration efforts for the next election in areas of high mobility or high growth.

Meanwhile, there are new election boundaries for all but one of Manitoba’s 57 electoral divisions. Only the Portage la Prairie constituency remains unchanged from the last general election. The Elections Manitoba website also allows voters to locate their constituency.