By Ashley Harper With the advanced polls now open for the 2021 Federal Election, it is the perfect time to bring out these treasurers from our collection: voters' lists for the village of Chesterville from the years 1890, 1932, and 1949. Voters' lists contain the names of those who are eligible to vote. Prior to 1935, municipal lists were compiled—these were used for provincial and municipal elections. Federal voters' lists were created in 1935. Municipal lists, like the ones in our collection, differentiate between who is able to participate in each type of election, with sections for those who can vote at the municipal or provincial level, or both.
Voters’ lists can help fill in the gaps created by these restrictions. As they are taken more frequently than censuses, they are also useful for finding those that moved frequently. Federal voters’ lists from 1935 to 1980 are available on Ancestry (paid membership required), and Library and Archives holds lists from 1935 to 1988 (click here to find out more). The information in these records can vary depending on the year they were taken, the area included, and whether they are municipal or federal lists.
There is also a “description” column that uses abbreviations such as “O and M F” and “T and M F”, which means owner/tenant and manhood franchise. Manhood franchise is a reference to universal male suffrage; in other words, men had a right to vote regardless of whether they owned land. The 1932 and 1949 municipal lists contain the same information, but they replace concession numbers with street names. It is important for researchers to note that the numbers used in the addresses are not house numbers—they correspond to the municipal lot plan. House numbers were introduced in the district during the 1970s, with Winchester adopting a numbering system in 1972, and Chesterville following in 1978. Voters’ lists for areas outside of the villages continued to use lot and concession numbers into the 1990s as rural civic addresses were not implemented in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry until 1993. The federal voters' lists are a bit different, and those from 1935 to 1980 include less detail than municipal lists. They do not generally state the marital status or juror eligibility of each voter. When it comes to rural areas, they usually do not contain addresses beyond a rural route (RR) number. However, the parameters of the polling division are described at the beginning of each list, which can help narrow down where an ancestor lived. One positive difference with federal lists is that they include a voter’s occupation. Some municipal lists also included occupation. The following is an excerpt from the 1949 municipal voters' list for Chesterville: For comparison, this is an excerpt from the 1949 federal voters' list for Chesterville: While these three small-town voters' lists can tell a lot about the community, they can also provide insight into broader Canadian society and the changes it underwent over the years. The results of the Women's Suffrage Movement in particular are clearly visible. In 1884, land-owning widows and spinsters (unmarried women) over the age of 21 were given the right to vote in municipal elections across Ontario. In 1917, women in Ontario (except those who were indigenous) were given the right to vote in provincial elections. Federal franchise was extended to female relatives of soldiers the same year as part of the Wartime Elections Act, then to women in general (again, with the exception of indigenous women) in 1918.
There is now a total of about 80,000 eligible voters in the provincial riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, and about 85,000 in the federal riding of the same name. In the past two decades, voter turnout in this riding has hovered around 50-55% for provincial elections and 60-65% for federal elections. No matter which party or candidate you support, it is important to vote and make your voice heard. Information on how to vote in the 2021 Federal Election in Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry can be found on Election Canada's Voter Information Service webpage. Scanned PDFs of the 1890, 1932, and 1949 Chesterville voters' lists are available here:
Searchable typed versions are also available here:
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