Residents of Mississauga are being encouraged to participate in early voting for the upcoming mayoral and Ward 5 councillor elections.

The positions will be filled once all ballots from the ongoing byelection have been collected and counted on June 10, which is less than three weeks away.

Twenty candidates are competing to succeed former mayor Bonnie Crombie, who left in January to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.

Additionally, 15 candidates are contending for the Ward 5 seat, which was vacated when former councillor Carolyn Parrish resigned in March to pursue the mayoral position.

Current Mississauga councillors Stephen Dasko, Dipika Damerla, and Alvin Tedjo are also running for mayor.

Advance voting will be available on May 24-25 at City Hall and on June 1-2 at 22 other locations across the city.

Officials are urging people to vote early to avoid long lines on election day.

Residents should verify their eligibility and review other voting information before casting their ballots.

To vote at an advance location, residents must present at least one form of identification, such as an Ontario driver’s license, Ontario photo card, cancelled personal cheque, insurance policy/statement, or any other document listed as acceptable on Ontario’s voter identification list.

The mayoral race in Mississauga has drawn a record number of candidates. The winner will become the seventh mayor of Mississauga, following a lineage that includes Robert Speck, Chic Murray, Martin Dobkin, Ron Searle, Hazel McCallion, and Bonnie Crombie.

Below are the names of the 15 candidates running for the Ward 5 council seat in Mississauga:

Omer Abdalla
Hamid Akbar
Amir Ali
Kristin Dattoo
Jordan Gray
Natalie Hart
Imran Hasan
Ehsan Khandaker
Bradley MacDonald
Tazeen Rizvi
Rosemarie Sanchez Sanchez
Manish Sawhney
Shelly Scott-England
Danny Singh
Rana Zia