Centre Wellington to use telephone, online voting in 2026

ELORA – Centre Wellington will use telephone and internet voting in the municipal election next October.

In her report to council on Oct. 27, clerk Kerri O’Kane stated the township used vote by mail from 2000 to 2014 but in 2018 and 2022 it used internet and telephone voting.

O’Kane noted lessons were learned in the last election and the changes will be made to:

• improve efficiency using a bar code reader to input 16-digit PINs;
• increase accessibility by offering more touch-screen devices such as iPads or tablets;
• enhance voter instruction letters with a fact sheet addressing common errors; and
• improve telephone and audio quality in collaboration with the voting service provider.

“This voting method integrates with other automated election processes like online ballot processing for striking names off the voters’ list, and provides an effective and rapid count of the votes at the close of voting,” states the report.

Voter turnout has been as high as 45 per cent, O’Kane said, but in the 2022 municipal election it was 39.7%, “which is one of the lowest.”

She added, “Many things determine voter turnout – weather, acclimations, contentious matters.

"It’s not just the voting method.”