Scarborough Southwest Byelection 2023: Polls to be open for voters from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Since Gary Crawford stepped down from his position earlier this year as Scarborough Southwest’s representative at Toronto Council, Ward 20 residents have demonstrated heightened interest in the upcoming byelection in which they will select their next councillor.

Over the past weekend, 4,374 residents participated in advance voting ahead of Byelection Day on Thursday, Nov. 30. The advance polls on Saturday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 26, attracted 2,181 and 2,193 eligible voters respectively, according to the City of Toronto.

Although this year’s Scarborough Southwest advance polls drew less voters than the ones for the October 2022 municipal election (which garnered 5,141 voters), Scarborough United Neighbourhoods (SUN) member Ron Parkinson said he was hopeful that Byelection Day will produce a high voter turnout.

“SUN and the SSW (Scarborough Southwest) community groups have done their best to promote the byelection and if voting is lower than [last time], then there’s another question to ask – why?” said Parkinson.

With the 2022 election attracting voters who were also coming out to elect a mayor as well as school trustees, a decline in advance voting turnout in a byelection solely focused on Ward 20 was to be expected.

To avoid a significant drop-off in voter turnout, SUN worked collaboratively with many local community groups to promote and share more candidate information. Parkinson is hopeful that the organization’s efforts, which included several candidate events, will play a key role in mobilizing eligible voters in Scarborough Southwest.

“Our role was to promote the byelection so residents would vote. We feel we’ve done a lot and it’s now up to the SSW residents to cast their vote,” said Parkinson. “There’s no excuse that they don’t know about the candidates.”

On Thursday, Nov. 30, voting locations across Ward 20 will open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Voters can only vote at their assigned voting place and must bring identification that clearly shows their name and Scarborough Southwest address. A list of acceptable identification is available on the Toronto Elections voter webpage. Eligible voters are also advised to bring their Voter Information Card if they received one.

With unofficial results being displayed in real-time, Scarborough Southwest residents should know who their new councillor is not too long after the 8 p.m. closure of the polls on Thursday night.

A total of 23 candidates are running in the byelection to be Scarborough Southwest’s new councillor.

They are:

Malik Ahmad; Corey David; Malika Ghous,; Thomas Hall; Peter Handjis; Jessica Hines; Marzia Hoque; Almagir Hussain; Anthony Internicola; Syed Jaffery; Naser Kaid; Parthi Kandavel; Walayat Khan; Angus Mackenzie; MD Abdullah Al Mamun; Suman Roy; Keven Rupasinghe; Sudip Shome; Anna Sidiropoulos; Sandeep Srivastava; Trevor Sutton; Reginald Tull; and Manny Zanders.

Earlier this month, Beach Metro Community News ran a Question and Answer feature with the 16 candidates who responded to our request to take part.

Those features can be found at:

Candidate Malik Ahmad — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-council-candidate-malik-ahmad-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Corey David — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-corey-david-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Malika Ghous — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-malika-ghous-answers-our-questions/

Candiate Peter Handjis — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-peter-handjis-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Jessica Hines — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-jessica-hines-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Marzia Hoque — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-marzia-hoque-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Anthony Internicola — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-anthony-internicola-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Syed Jaffery — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-syed-jaffery-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Parthi Kandavel — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-parthi-kandavel-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Walayat Khan — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-walayat-khan-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Suman Roy — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-suman-roy-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Kevin Rupasinghe — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-kevin-rupasinghe-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Anna Sidiropoulos — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-anna-sidiropoulos-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Sandeep Srivasta —  https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-sandeep-srivasta-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Trevor Sutton — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-trevor-sutton-answers-our-questions/

Candidate Reginald Tull — https://beachmetro.com/2023/11/15/scarborough-southwest-byelection-2023-candidate-reginald-tull-answers-our-questions/

– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.