The City of Hamilton is piloting two new online tools – a voice query directory and a virtual assistant – to help residents easily access and find information about the upcoming municipal election on October 24, 2022.
“Alexa, Hey Google, where can I vote?”
Ask Hamilton is a voice query directory designed to provide users with instant access to current and accurate information about the 2022 Hamilton Municipal Election through their existing voice-enabled smart home devices enabled with Alexa, Google or on their smartphone.
Launch and access the Ask Hamilton voice query in three easy steps: For Amazon Alexa, enable or manually add the City of Hamilton Skill via the Alexa App. Next, say “Alexa, ask the City of Hamilton”. Then, ask a question. For Google, use “Hey Google, talk to the City of Hamilton and after following prompts, ask a question. More information about how to enable Ask Hamilton on different devices, as well as a detailed list of questions is available at hamilton.ca/elections.
On the City’s website, the new Elections Virtual Assistant is a chatbot tool that can be accessed on the elections-focused webpages. Users can type a question or topic about the upcoming municipal election in the search box to receive more information on the subject.
The City of Hamilton is piloting both online tools specifically for the upcoming municipal election to continue increasing access and reducing barriers to voting.
The City also released its Election Accessibility Plan 2022 with information on the City’s approach to achieving the following goals:
The new online tools, Accessibility Plan 2022, and other valuable information for #HamiltonVotes2022 is available at hamilton.ca/elections
Quick Facts
One of the most important mandates of my role as City Clerk is to ensure that elections are accessible. By listening, learning and evolving with the community, we can more easily identify and remove barriers to voting. It is my hope that by using technology and tools in new ways for this election, we can help make the voting process as easy and accessible as possible for eligible voters in Hamilton this October.
Andrea Holland, City Clerk
The City of Hamilton is focused on continuous improvement, innovation and modernization. By introducing new technologies that allow those in our community to more easily access our services and information, we are ensuring that customer service remains at the forefront of the voting experience - both for this municipal election and in future.
Cyrus Tehrani, Chief Digital Officer & Director of Innovation