Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

INTENDED AUDIENCE/STAKEHOLDERS
The general audience was the 8.5 million eligible electors for Ontario’s 2011 Provincial General Election
(18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen and reside in one of Ontario’s 107 electoral districts).
TFC also identified specific audience groups who would be most affected by the changes Elections
Ontario made to the voting process:
• University or college students who attend school at an Ontario post‐secondary institution as they
could now either vote for a candidate in the electoral district in which they live while attending school or
for a candidate in the electoral district in which they live when not attending school.
• New Canadians who were voting in their first Ontario provincial election and would be unfamiliar with
the process/requirements.
• Voters who required assistance with voting because of a disability.
• As well, there a number of stakeholder groups for these audiences for the program, including College
Student Alliance of Ontario; Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance; Canadian Paraplegic Association;
Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf; Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians; Canadian Mental Health
Association, Ontario.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Business Goal
Voter turnout is not Elections Ontario’s business goal. Rather Election Ontario’s goal is to ensure that
any Ontario elector who chooses to vote knows how, where and when to vote and can do so in a way
that is accessible to them. The “Elections Ontario Makes Voting Easy” communications program met the
need of the organization because it aimed to educate the public about opportunities to vote in the 2011
Provincial General Election that changes to the electoral process created.
Communication Objectives
1) Inform Ontario’s voters about how, where and when to vote as measured by: a) Receive a ROI of
$0.02 or less per contact
b) Earn a MRP (Media Relations Rating Points) score of 75% based on the following criteria: i)
spokesperson quote
ii) call to action: inclusion of 1‐800 number or wemakevotingeasy.ca,
iii) key messages : “Elections Ontario makes voting easy” or “More days, more ways to vote”
2) Improve the overall tone of coverage about Elections Ontario as compared to coverage in 2007 (all
negative): a) Tone score greater than 50% positive or balanced.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
Research
TFC undertook extensive research in order to understand Elections Ontario’s needs and challenges.
Research included meetings with Elections Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Director of Election
Finances and General Counsel and Director of Communications to review and assess past and potential
issues. TFC reviewed Elections Ontario’s marketing plan to promote the organization’s new branding,
the communication messaging matrix in response to key issues that could arise, the Returning Officer
Calendar when the CEO would visit the ROs in their electoral districts and the outreach team’s schedule
of events. TFC also reviewed past media coverage of Elections Ontario’s role in the 2007 provincial
election, as well as the critical coverage about Elections Canada’s lack of social media presence in the
2011 federal election.