THUNDER BAY -- Candidates concerned about the electronic vote tabulators to be used in the upcoming municipal election walked away satisfied after a demonstration at city hall.
City Clerk John Hannam took people through the steps of voting and how the tabulator works in council chambers Friday morning.
“It’s just to ensure the public has confidence in the systems we use and that the candidates themselves understand how the tabulators work, so there is no question as to what processes we’re using for voting,” said Hannam.
The machines that will be used to count the votes on Oct. 27 during the municipal election are the same ones used in the 2010 election.
“We’re certainly familiar with how they operate,” said Hannam, adding there are also no differences for voters.
Seven candidates came to watch the demonstration, including Current River Ward candidate Andy Wolff, who had a few questions and wanted to see what the procedures were for voting.
“It was proven here that it does work,” said Wolff. “What I would like to see added on to it regardless is that we still have them randomly, manually counted just to make sure the results are parallel with what the machines are reading.”
Wolff was pleased to hear scrutineers could examine the boxes to ensure there are no ballots in them before the polls open and could also check to make sure all the tabulators are working.
“I just want to make sure the ballots are being consistently counted,” he said.
Northwood Ward candidate Frank Armiento had heard concerns in the community of the tabulators being hacked or manipulated, but the city clerk assured him the tabulators are not connected to the Internet.
“Now that (Hannam) has clarified it for me, I feel comfortable,” he said.
“That was my main reason for coming today, to clarify that and help the voters understand it is safe and we can use the electronic system.”
