Byelection voting underway as Mississauga chooses next mayor

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Published May 24, 2024 at 11:41 am

Mississauga mayoral race advance voting.

Voting for Mississauga’s next mayor and Ward 5 councillor gets underway today as residents can take advantage of the opportunity to cast their byelection ballots early.

City of Mississauga officials said advance voting will be available Friday and Saturday (May 24-25) at City Hall in the downtown core as well as June 1 and 2 at 22 advance voting spots across the city.

Officials urge people to cast their ballots early to avoid long lines on election day, which falls on June 10. Prior to voting, residents should check to see if they’re eligible to cast a ballot.

To vote at one of the advance locations, residents must bring at least one piece of identification, officials said. Acceptable ID includes:

  • Ontario driver’s licence
  • Ontario photo card
  • cancelled personal cheque
  • insurance policy or statement
  • any other document included on Ontario’s acceptable documents for voter identification list

Twenty candidates are battling it out to succeed former mayor Bonnie Crombie, who bolted town in January to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.

Another 15 are vying for the Ward 5 seat, vacated when former councillor Carolyn Parrish resigned in March to run for mayor.

Current Mississauga councillors Stephen Dasko, Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo are also running to succeed Crombie and become the seventh mayor in Mississauga’s history.

Mississauga has never seen so many candidates run for mayor. Others entered in the mayoral race are:

  • Zulfiqar Ali
  • Diya Atassi
  • Brian Crombie
  • Jamie Dookie
  • Frank Fang
  • Xiaohua Gong
  • Winston Harding
  • Sara Iqbal
  • Syed Jaffery
  • Mohsin Khan
  • Mitchell MacEachern
  • Sinisa Mandrapa
  • Mike Matulewicz
  • David Shaw
  • George Tavares
  • Nathalie Xian Yi Yan

The winner among mayoral hopefuls will become the seventh mayor of Mississauga, following Robert Speck (1968-72), Chic Murray (1972-73), Martin Dobkin (1973-76), Ron Searle (1976-78), Hazel McCallion (1978-2014) and Bonnie Crombie (2014-24).

With election day just over two weeks away, a number of candidates continue to participate in public debates.

The latest candidates debate took place last night at Food Banks Mississauga, where Dasko, Damerla, Tedjo and Brian Crombie squared off on the issues.

Parrish did not take part, saying earlier this month she was declining to participate in any more mayoral byelection debates.

Remaining debates include sessions at:

  • University of Toronto Mississauga Student Centre — May 27, 6-8 p.m.
  • Applewood Acres ANAF Veteran’s Club — May 28, 7-9 p.m.
  • Sheridan College Hazel McCallion Campus — May 29, 7-9 p.m.

Here’s the list of the 15 Ward 5 candidates:

  • Omer Abdalla
  • Hamid Akbar
  • Amir Ali
  • Kristin Dattoo
  • Jordan Gray
  • Natalie Hart
  • Imran Hasan
  • Ehsan Khandaker
  • Bradley MacDonald
  • Tazeen Rizvi
  • Rosemarie Sanchez Sanchez
  • Manish Sawhney
  • Shelly Scott-England
  • Danny Singh
  • Rana Zia
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