Of the 417 municipal elections being held in Ontario on Oct. 24, more than half have decided to use online or phone voting.
The province's Municipal Elections Act allows municipalities to opt to use alternative methods to voting at the polls -- such as online, telephone and mail-in ballots -- if a council passes a bylaw. Municipal clerks are then responsible for establishing the procedures.The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says there will be 417 municipal elections held in the province on Oct. 24, and more than half -- 217 -- have decided to use online or phone voting.
"At some point, it will have to be a point of contention where we have to sort of acknowledge that these elections are 'real elections,' and as such, they should be held to some kind of basic democratic standards." "In order for us to believe we shouldn't have to rely on faith in this third-party company. We should have evidence -- independent and specific evidence -- to support a vote total."
Neither that, nor the lack of provincial standards, have deterred communities from using that voting method this time around. Some are offering a mix of paper ballots and online voting, including Thunder Bay Kingston, Markham, Vaughan, Sarnia and Brantford. "It's an accessible form of voting. It allows people to vote 24/7. It is very easy to use," she said.Cooke said the city has mailed a single-use voter identification number to all registered voters to use along with other voting credentials such as their date of birth.
Stephen O'Brien, vice-president of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said some smaller places are getting creative about doing that.
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