City administration wants to bring voting in municipal elections to the 21 century.
Administration is recommending offering voters a chance to cast their ballots either online or over their phones. The goal is to increase voter turnout for the next election, which will take place in 2014.
Voting online isn’t something new as other Ontario municipalities have already included the option along with voting over the telephone and by mail.
The city has about 2,000 non-residents who own property who would have to travel in order to participate in an election or by-election. It’s expected that offering an electronic choice would allow more eligible voters to participate in elections.
The recommendations also highlight some potential risks.
One of the main risks includes making sure voting online is secure and not vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Mayor Keith Hobbs said he would support the idea as long as there was property security in place.
“Everything is done electronically,” he said.
“I remember when the voting van came out and there was controversy about using a mobile. From perspective, I was really happy with the results in the last election. I went in as an underdog and won by a landslide. If it is going to get more people voting and more people involved in politics and how your city is run then I’m all for that.”
The recommendation suggests that resident who want to vote over the Internet can register online between September and October. The process would have four steps including create a personal password.
From there, voters only have to log on and put in their password.
Another option for voters is when they receive their information package in the mail they will receive a unique pin that they can use to vote online.
Despite all the various options, Hobbs believes online voting won’t replace casting a paper ballot anytime soon.
“There is some security with paper ballots,” he said. “You got a real vote right in front of you. But it is 2013 and we’re moving ahead.”
He added that he hopes the online options help make it easier for residents with disabilities and for seniors who aren’t able to make it to the polls to vote.
The recommendations are expected to be discussed at Monday night's council meeting.
City clerk John Hannam said it’s not clear if having the option to vote online attracts new voters. Compared to other places in the world, North America in general has been behind in terms of online options for voters.
Hannam said the use in Ontario has been a growing method for the past couple of years.
“It’s just another tool in our toolbox,” Hannam said. “I think the reception to Internet voting will be quite good. Go back to the 2006 election where there were about 20 municipalities that used Internet voting. That more than doubled in 2010 to about 44.”
If approved by council, Hannam believes that the city could be ready to vote online by the next election.
But not everyone is happy to hear about the new option.
Andy Wolff, who ran as a candidate for Current River in the last election, voiced concerns about voting online and plans to make a deputation when council votes on the matter in June.
Wolff made a similar deputation in 2010 when council was originally discussing the idea of online voting.
“I think the big thing is that the public is less and less involved in it,” he said. “They don’t see any of the ballot or have necessarily a chance to examine the ballots to make sure they’re being counted correctly. I believe it will also be a lot more expansive.”
He also argued that if someone votes online with a pin number then administration could find out who someone voted for.
Wolff also helped to spearhead a petition in 2010 to conduct manual audits of four randomly selected polling stations to ensure accuracy of vote tabulators. Wolff had asked to switch to a hand-count system for the Oct. 25 election but council choose to continue to use the electronic tabulators.
