One Week Remaining to File for Municipal Election

Those thinking about running in the upcoming municipal election only have one week left to file their paperwork.

OXFORD COUNTY - Time is running out if you're thinking about running in the upcoming municipal election.

Candidates have until Friday, August 19th at 2:00 p.m. to file all of their necessary paperwork in order to run in the October 24th election.

Woodstock City Clerk Amy Humphries says they also need support from their fellow voters in order to become a candidate.

"They need 25 signatures from qualified electors within Woodstock. We always recommend when they fill out their paperwork to get a few extra just in case there are any issues. If someone forgets to put a postal code in or doesn't fill out the form properly, it's nice to have a few extras."

The City of Woodstock has posted more information regarding candidate eligibility and the candidate information package online here. The candidate information packages can also be picked up at City Hall.

Once you have all of the necessary forms filled out, you will have to set up a meeting with Humphries and the election coordinator.

"We'll go through all of the paperwork with them, make sure everything is filled out properly and we have everything we need and from there we will get their name on our website as a candidate. On August 22nd before 4:00 p.m. we are required to certify all of the nominations. Once those nominations are certified we then work with our ballot provider and we start to get ballots printed."

Those who have already filed their nomination paperwork also have until August 19th at 2:00 p.m. if they change their mind and decide to withdraw from the race or change the position they are running for. If that's the case, Humphries says they will have to put it in writing and fill out a form.

Humphries has seen a significant increase in the number of people picking up candidate information packages this year. She says a lot of people in Woodstock seem to be thinking about becoming involved in local politics.

But that hasn't been the case for some of the other municipalities in Oxford. South-West Oxford has only received one application for each position, and they are from the current members of Township Council. If no one decides to run against them, the entire council will be acclaimed for another term.

Some municipalities don't even have enough people filed to run. Blandford-Blenheim Township is looking for one Mayor and four Councillors and as of 6:00 a.m. today, only two people had filed to run for Councilor. Only one person had filed for the Mayor's seat; current Mayor Mark Peterson.

Sarah Matheson, the Deputy Clerk for Blandford-Blenheim, says if the Township does not receive any more submissions, Peterson will be acclaimed for another term as Mayor and the Township will have to extend the nomination period for Councillors to include Wednesday, August 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If the Township still doesn't receive enough nominations for council afterwards, a by-election will be held.

This will be Matheson's third municipal election working for Blandford-Blenheim and she says the Township has never had to extend the nomination during the elections in 2014 and 2018.

You can find more information regarding all of the nominations that have been submitted across Oxford County below:

Nomination breakdown for each municipality - as of 6:00 a.m. on August 12th

City of Woodstock
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, 2 City-County Councillors, 4 City Councillors
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 4
Number of filed nominations for City-County Councillor: 3
Number of filed nominations for City Councillor: 10

Town of Ingersoll
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, 1 Deputy Mayor, 5 Town Councillors
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 3
Number of filed nominations for Deputy Mayor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Town Councillor: 6

Town of Tillsonburg
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, 6 Town Councillors
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 2
Number of filed nominations for Town Councillor: 6

Township of East Zorra-Tavistock
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, 1 Deputy Mayor, two Ward 1 Councillors, one Ward 2 Councillor, two Ward 3 Councillors
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 2
Number of filed nominations for Deputy Mayor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 1 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 2 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 3 Councillor: 2

Township of Zorra
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, one Ward 1 Councillor, one Ward 2 Councillor, one Ward 3 Councillor, one Ward 4 Councillor
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 1 Councillor: 2
Number of filed nominations for Ward 2 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 3 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 4 Councillor: 2

Township of Blandford Blenheim
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, 4 Councillors
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Councillor: 2

Township of South-West Oxford
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, one Ward 1 Councillor, one Ward 2 Councillor, one Ward 3 Councillor, one Ward 4 Councillor, one Ward 5 Councillor, one Ward 6 Councillor
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 1 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 2 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 3 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 4 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 5 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nomniations for Ward 6 Councillor: 1

Township of Norwich
Positions to fill: 1 Mayor, one Ward 1 Councillor, one Ward 2 Councillor, one Ward 3 Councillor, one Ward 4 Councillor
Number of filed nominations for Mayor: 2
Number of filed nominations for Ward 1 Councillor: 1
Number of filed nominations for Ward 2 Councillor: 3
Number of filed nominations for Ward 3 Councillor: 2
Number of filed nominations for Ward 4 Councillor: 4

Nomination breakdown for school board trustees - as of 6:00 a.m. on August 12th

Thames Valley District School Board
Positions to fill: 2 Oxford County trustees
Number of filed nominations: 3

London District Catholic School Board
Positions to fill: 1 Oxford County trustee
Number of filed nominations: 1

Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence
Positions to fill: 1 Oxford County trustee
Number of filed nominations: 1

Conseil Scolaire Viamonde
Positions to fill: 1 Oxford County trustee
Number of filed nominations: 0