PEISchool board trustee elections in Prince Edward Island kick off Monday, and this year will be a bit different — voting will mostly take place online, with an option for mail-in ballots.‘It’s important for parents to be engaged in that process,’ says chief electoral officerThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Sep 08, 2025 9:24 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoTim Garrity, chief electoral officer with Elections P.E.I., hopes the new online voting system will increase voter turnout and engagement in the province’s school board trustee elections. (Isabella Zavarise/CBC)School board trustee elections in Prince Edward Island kick off Monday, and this year will be a bit different — voting will mostly take place online, with an option for mail-in ballots.The province’s chief electoral officer, Tim Garrity, said the move came after Elections P.E.I. worked with the Department of Education following the 2022 school board elections, which used mail-in ballots only. The department wanted to explore whether online voting could boost participation.”They thought that it might be a good idea to see if we can increase voter turnout, voter engagement, have that accessibility and the ease of voting to be able to be there if we tried an online voting process,” Garrity told CBC’s Island Morning.Elections P.E.I. issued a request for proposals last year and selected a company to deliver the new online system.Voter turnout in school board elections on P.E.I. has historically been low. Garrity hopes this year’s change will help.”We’re hopeful that accessibility side of it allows people more opportunity to be able to take advantage of this option to vote.”How it worksVoting begins on Oct. 3 at noon.Islanders can register starting Monday through the Elections P.E.I. website.After entering some basic information, voters will get access to a profile showing their school zone based on their civic address. Voters can also choose to cast ballots in both the English and French-language school board elections.More information on how to vote can be found on the Elections P.E.I. website. (Thinh Nguyen/CBC)For those putting their name forward as a candidate, the deadline is Sept. 26 at 2 p.m.”It’s important for parents to be engaged in that process. So we’re very hopeful that we’ll have a full slate of candidates,” Garrity said.Pre-registered voters will receive an email with instructions to log into the secure portal and cast their ballots. The online voting system will close Oct. 17 at noon.Garrity noted that voting zones are determined by civic address, not necessarily by which school children attend. Boundaries are set out in the Education Act’s election regulations, and every civic address on the Island is assigned to zones for both the Public Schools Branch and the French-language school board.Security measuresGarrity said security has been a top priority in preparing the online voting system. Elections P.E.I. has been working with a Canadian company experienced in managing municipal elections across the country.”We did a full independent audit of them. We had penetration testing done by an independent body. We had a threat-risk assessment done again by another independent company,” he said.”We feel very comfortable that we’re in a good place at this time.”More information can be found on the Elections P.E.I. website. A call centre is also available for questions at 1-888-234-8683.With files from Island Morning
Registration open for P.E.I. school board election, which features online voting option
