Patsy Copus, a blogger and grandmother, says she just wanted to make a difference in Windsor's Ward 3 when she filed her nomination papers for the upcoming election.
She finished the paperwork and gathered the required 25 signatories before handing in her nomination on July 16.
But when nominations closed on July 27, she got some unwelcome news; from a friend on social media. She was not listed as a candidate on the City of Windsor website.
"Somebody sent me a private message and said, 'I was just checking the list for everybody in the different wards and your name is gone," says Copus. "If I didn't have social media, I'd still be out there campaigning right now."
Upset and certain a mistake had been made, she went to City Hall to inquire where she found out she had been disqualified. One signatory had forgotten to sign their name.
Copus was told by the city's manager of records and elections the clerk's office did not need to notify her there was a problem, or even call her to tell her she had been disqualified.
"I said, 'why didn't you call me?' They said, 'we don't have to,'" Copus says. "We're not required to."
Chuck Scarpelli, Windsor's manager of records and elections, tells BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that the clerk's office follows the Municipal Elections Act if a situation arises where a candidate is disqualified.
"The Act basically says that if a candidate has been rejected by the clerk, if their nomination paper is rejected because there's something deficient on it or it doesn't comply with the Act, the clerk, as soon as possible should notify the candidate of the rejection, along with anyone else who is running in that office," says Scarpelli.
Scarpelli says Copus was indeed notified, first by email on the day after the deficiency was discovered by the clerk, then by a certified, registered letter mailed to her.
Blackburn News also checked with clerk's offices in several Ontario cities, receiving responses from the cities of London and Sudbury. London responded, "We would notify them by multiple ways, by phone, by email, and more formally in writing."
The clerk's office in London also refered to the Municipal Elections Act.
"When the clerk rejects a nomination, he or she shall, as soon as possible, give notice of the fact to the person who sought to be nominated and to all candidates for the office."
After researching the issue, Copus also discovered the case of Mississauga candidate, Nikki Clark who had also been disqualified from running in October's election, and was notified July 30th by Mississauga City Clerk, Diana Rusnov. She wrote about it on her blog.
Copus says she has filed a complaint with Windsor's Integrity Commissioner, Bruce Elman and plans to file a complaint with the Ontario Ombudsman and Ontario Human Rights Commission.