Statement on Project Under Gardiner Naming Campaign Run-Off Vote

Project: Under Gardiner’s naming campaign will continue with a run-off vote to be held from May 26-30.

There was suspicious activity during the final hours of voting for the Project: Under Gardiner naming campaign. In the closing hours of the voting, we noticed a significant jump in voting and watched as the six percent gap between the two leading names – the Bentway and the Artery – closed quickly.

We can now confirm that a small contingent tried to manipulate the voting outcome by adding invalid votes to one of the frontrunner names. The voting rules clearly stated that a valid email address is needed to vote and that voting is limited to once a day. After attempting to remove the fraudulent votes, the final margin between the Artery and the Bentway was so small that we asked a third-party to review the results. That third party was Vox Pop Labs, a Toronto-based company that specializes in research, data and decision-making. Its founder, Cliff Van Der Linden personally supervised the review. He and his team confirmed the presence of fraudulent votes. With just 10 votes standing between the two frontrunner names, an undisputed winner was too close to call and Vox Pop Lab’s final recommendation was to hold a run-off vote for the two top names.

We passionately believe that Torontonians are creative, insightful and thoughtful, which is why a new public space that belongs to this city should be named by its citizens. Over the last three months we embarked upon a far-reaching community engagement process and have been grateful for the informed and inspiring contributions from the public. We do not want the actions of a few to derail the spirit of our naming campaign. The integrity of this process matters to us, which is why we are holding a run-off vote. While we are disappointed that some individuals attempted digital “ballot box stuffing,” in order to subvert an open and public vote, we are thankful for all of the interest and enthusiasm we have generated. Our goal is to allow for a deep community engagement process that is keeping with the spirit of this project, and we recognize that this final naming vote must be open and credible.

Here are the details of our run-off vote:

• The top two names go head-to-head, with The Artery vs. The Bentway in a 4-day run-off vote
• This starts on May 26 at noon, runs until May 30 at noon
• Voting will still take place on the project’s website
• Open to anyone with a valid email address
• One vote only
• Winner declared after validation of result, expected a few days after the vote closes

We have updated the rules and regulations for the vote and also added new security measures to ensure the vote is secure and valid. In addition to this, will no longer show the voting results in real-time and we will take a few days to audit the database before we declare a winner.

To cast a ballot in the run-off vote, please visit www.undergardiner.com/name.html


media contact

Andrew Hilton
Director of Communications and Public Engagement
Waterfront Toronto
Telephone: 416-214-1344 x263
Mobile: 416-427-4613
E-mail: ahilton@waterfrontoronto.ca