‘A culture of corruption’: One voter card, many polling options; Brampton candidates question how City Hall plans to stop duplicate voting

Brampton residents hoping to vote in the October 26 municipal election should have received their voter cards detailing their respective polling locations. This is nothing out of the ordinary, as elections allow voters to cast a ballot ahead of time, should they not be able to make it on election day. 

This year, a rarely used system has prompted Brampton residents to voice concerns over the glaring holes in the widely criticized way the city’s officials have chosen to run the voting process. On their polling cards, there is a list of multiple locations, in some cases more than a dozen, where eligible residents can turn up and vote within their ward. 

People, including candidates, are asking, how would the City know if one resident votes multiple times? 

“Confidence in the integrity of the election has to come first,” says candidate Monica Singh Soares. “These are not accusations…they’re basic election integrity questions.”

Wards 7 and 8 councillor candidate Monica Singh Soares says confidence in the election is key. (Submitted)

Prabh Gill is running to be the next mayor of Brampton and recently sent a letter to City Hall that he shared with The Pointer.

“Dear City Clerk, I am a registered candidate for Mayor in the 2026 Brampton municipal election. I am writing to ask for information about the voting and vote-counting equipment that will be used in this election. I want to be clear that I am not alleging wrongdoing by the City, its staff or any supplier. My purpose is to make sure residents and all candidates have the same clear information before voting begins.”

Gill is seeking clarification about the process that was used to acquire the electronic voting machines that are being used, and what accountability is in place to ensure the integrity of the system. 

“The City's Bids and Tenders page for NRFP2025-347, Lease of Election Tabulation System and Electronic Voting System, lists the bid as awarded on January 9, 2026. The same page shows no awarded vendor and no contract value.” 

He sent ten questions, listed further down.

Brampton mayoral candidate Prabh Gill has questions about the integrity of the electronic vote counting machines being used in the election. (Supplied)

The Pointer also sent questions to City staff about steps that are being taken to ensure voting integrity and what can be done if any irregularities crop up. There was no response.

The City of Brampton website reports that the municipal Voters' List identifies people who are eligible to vote in the municipal election, by name, qualifying address, school support and residency.”

“The Voters' List is live and when a voter attends a voting location, they are marked as having voted. This information is updated immediately and all other voting locations will see the same information.” 

There is very little information on the voting page that explains what safeguards are in place to ensure voting integrity.

“Our online tool will allow you to confirm or provisionally update or add your information to the Voters' List.

Soares said she was told by City officials that a live voters’ list will record each vote and all other polling locations will be able to see it. 

The Pointer asked how such safeguards would actually work and what protocols are in place to ensure the integrity of the live voters list. It’s unclear how a volunteer or worker at one voting station would know that someone who appears to cast a ballot has already voted somewhere else.

City staff did not explain why the usual system that has been in place in Brampton, restricting voters to one designated polling station where they are registered to cast a ballot, was not used this year, and why the city is not doing what other municipalities across the country do.

Many residents, including candidates, think a live voters list is not enough to ensure fair elections, and are questioning why the City changed the usual system used in Brampton and across the country, which tells voters which specific nearby polling station they have to show up at to cast one single ballot, after scrutineers cross them off the list for that specific location, the only one they are able to vote at.

Soares, a candidate for councillor hoping to represent Brampton’s Wards 7 and 8, is not accusing anyone of cheating; she is concerned about safeguards and the loss of trust in the system that residents are raising. She said voters have no idea what safeguards are in place to prevent someone from voting up to a dozen times. The City’s position effectively relies on the honour system, putting the onus on voters not to break the rules.

Soares says a live voters list allows someone to be marked as having voted at a site once they cast a ballot. But what happens if they do the same at another polling station? She wants to know how a duplicate vote is flagged, and how it would be reconciled afterward.

“The government should be going above and beyond what they can, not simply saying ‘trust us’”. 

She is especially concerned about the choice to move away from the usual system after years of controversy at City Hall, which she described as having a “culture of corruption.”

“There’s a culture of corruption,” she said. “And people are nervous. And I think that’s what may be an elephant in the room that people are not talking about.” 

One of the voter cards in Brampton, for the 2026 municipal election, with multiple listed locations a resident can choose to vote at in their ward, instead of the usual system across the country that gives voters only one location where they are registered to cast their ballot. Candidates are worried about fraud. (Submitted)

Soares said being outside of City Hall’s politics, she calls out potential corruption when she sees it.  

Soares also raised concerns over the identification that can be used. “A voter notice itself is also not identification,” she said. 

A publicly-sourced review of ballot counting machines in Brampton, or EVMs (electronic voting machines) dated October 5 has been spreading across the internet, raising concerns about who controls the vote counting process. It is a closed system in Brampton, with City Hall entirely in charge of taking the voting data from the machines and recording the results. 

It is possible that in the hands of unethical City Hall leaders those responsible for the voting machines could easily manipulate the results to favour certain candidates. 

Only a complaint under provincial rules could trigger an external review, and even then it’s not clear how a sophisticated vote rigging scheme could be exposed.

The document claims that the American company ES&S was the 2022 election supplier for voting tabulator machines. The City of Brampton leased DS200 tabulators and 15 ExpressVote accessible units. 

A 2026 staff report says the old contract had expired, and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was being developed. The public document also raises serious issues over ten years. For example, in 2023, a coding error on ExpressVote XL machines in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, made printed summaries appear to flip judicial retention votes, and ES&S acknowledged fault. 

On the City of Brampton’s voter FAQ page, the use of voter machines is addressed.

“The City has established procedures and safeguards governing the use of voting and vote-counting equipment to protect the accuracy, security and integrity of the election. Each piece of voting equipment undergoes rigorous testing ahead of an election. The technology does not eliminate a paper ballot. All votes processed by vote tabulators have a corresponding paper ballot. The use of voting and vote-counting equipment is permitted under Ontario's Municipal Elections Act and is commonly used by municipalities across Ontario.”

There is no information about independent, external oversight of City Hall staff.

knehcsg/Flickr 

Mayor Patrick Brown was asked about concerns regarding the change to allow multiple voting locations and if there is an independent, external auditor monitoring the use of voting machines so no manipulation takes place. He did not respond. 

Gill sent ten questions to Brampton’s City Clerk regarding the integrity and transparency of the voting system: 

1. Who is the final awarded supplier for NRFP2025-347, and what legal entity signed the agreement?

2. What is the total contract value, including lease, software, support, licensing, training, ballot services, accessibility units, maintenance, peripherals, optional work and taxes?

3. Who submitted bids, and what was the final scoring matrix?

4. Why does the public tender page say Awarded but also show No Awarded Vendors?

5. Does Brampton use any modem, cellular, wireless, VPN, remote support or internet based transmission for election night results? If yes, when is it active and what safeguards exist?

6. Are final official results physically uploaded and cross checked with printed tapes and paper ballots before certification?

7. What independent testing, logic and accuracy testing, cybersecurity testing, vulnerability scanning, DGSI compliance review and accessibility review will be completed before advance voting?

8. Will candidates be allowed to observe equipment demonstration, testing, sealing and post election tabulation certification?

9. Have all conflict of interest declarations been signed by vendors, evaluators, staff, consultants and elected officials where applicable?

10. Will the Clerk publish an incident reporting protocol for tabulators and accessible voting devices before Election Day?

Soares said, “Technology isn’t inherently the problem, transparency is the issue.”

The Pointer also sent questions to the City Clerk’s office and elections coordinator Roger Wilson, asking if the system being used this year is open to fraud, and what the City is doing to protect the voting machine process and the ballot casting process from fraud, including the possible hiring of an independent external oversight auditor. 

No response was provided.

Email: [email protected] 

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you.