The race forming right now, and the shapes hiding in twenty years of
certificates. Every figure here is derived from tables already published on this site.
Nothing new is claimed, and each chart names its derivation.
The 2026 field, filing by filing
Every nomination on the City's current list, counted cumulatively from
the day filing opened. The line ends at August 21, 2026 because that is when the list was retrieved — the run-up to the August 21
deadline is precisely the part still being written, and past elections say it is
steep. Withdrawn filings are not counted. Derived from the
current candidate list, which carries each filing's date
and time from the City's record.
Acclamations, election by election
Council seatsSchool board seats
Seats won without a vote in each full general election, by race type. The record of 3 is shared by 2003 and 2022. The 2026 bar is faded because nothing is decided: it
counts seats with exactly one candidate filed as of the current list, and it changes
until nominations close on August 21; anyone eligible can still file. Every acclaimed
seat on record is on the acclamations page.
The closest results on record
Smallest winning margins, mayor and ward races, 2003–2022
Derivation: winning votes minus runner-up votes in
every mayoral and ward race we hold, smallest eight shown, runner-up named beside the
winner. School-board races are excluded because the French boards' certificates give
Barrie-only vote columns. By-election margins are marked: far fewer people vote in one, so
a small margin there is not comparable with a general election. Full tables:
election results.
Smallest winning margins as a share of the vote, mayor and ward races,
2003–2022
Derivation: the same margins divided by every vote
cast in that race — all candidates, not just the top two — smallest eight shown. This is
a different list from the table above, and that is the point: a handful of votes in a
low-turnout by-election is a proportionally closer result than the same handful city-wide,
which the raw count hides and the share shows. Full tables:
election results.
Turnout has never reached a third — where a figure was published
Citywide turnout in each general election with a published figure.
2003–2010 are not drawn: those documents record votes but not the
size of the electorate, so no percentage exists to draw. The
turnout page holds the full record, the ballots-cast
floors for the missing years, and the comparison with the Ontario average.
What happens when an incumbent runs again
Won at the ballotAcclaimedLost
Of the eleven council seats (mayor and ten wards), what happened when the
person holding the seat going in ran to keep it. Seats whose holder did not run are
not drawn — this chart is about defending a seat; the turnover chart below counts
every way a seat changes hands. The holder resolves through every event, including
by-elections and the 2017 appointment, via the person registry. A ward number does
not describe identical territory in every year, so a defence across a boundary
change is of the seat number, not the same streets. Derived from the
results archive.
How much of council changes hands
Of the eleven council seats (mayor and ten wards), how many were won by a
different person than held the seat going in — for any reason: retirement, defeat, or
a new face in an open race. The holder going in accounts for mid-term changes (the
2012, 2016 and 2020 by-elections and the 2017 appointment). Derived from the results
archive through the person registry, so a name spelled differently on two
certificates still counts as one person. 2003 is the baseline year and cannot have a
figure. A ward number does not describe identical territory in every year.
Most candidates are newcomers
IncumbentsReturning candidatesNewcomers
Candidates in each full general election, total above each bar.
Incumbent means holding the seat they contested, resolved through the
seat history; a by-election win or the 2017 appointment counts.
Returning means an earlier run in our records, which begin in 2003 —
so 2006's newcomer count runs high by artifact: a candidate whose earlier runs all
predate 2003 still reads as new. 2026 is faded because it is not final:
it is the list as filed so far, and it changes until nominations close on August 21. Derived from the results archive and the person registry.
Every motion outcome the council minutes print, by year. Recorded votes
— the ones with names attached — are the thin band; a voice vote records an
outcome and nobody's position. The full record, meeting by meeting, is on
council votes.
Most people run once
How many times each of the 385 people in the record
has appeared on a Barrie-area ballot since 2003 — municipal, federal or provincial —
2026 filings included. Derived from the
full candidate directory; candidacies are linked
across years, and across levels of government, only where confirmed by hand.
