Despite concerns, it seems councillors, in general, agree the benefits of voting by mail outweigh potential abuse of the system.
As a result, Minto council intends to continue with its vote by mail system for the 2014 municipal election, and limit in-person voting to one location each in Harriston, Palmerston and Clifford – but the decision was not unanimous. Councillors Rick Hembly and Ron Elliott opposed that move.
Council’s resolution of April 19 also authorized the mayor or clerk to allow for the carrying on of DataFix to deal with the town’s voters list.
Minto Chief Administrative Officer Bill White said that signing an agreement did not commit the municipality to vote by mail in the 2014 municipal elections. He recommended council proceed with the agreement for DataFix to update the town’s voting list.
DataFix is a voting list management service that manage the list and also has the ability to process mail-in ballots.
“Vote by mail has proven to increase overall voter turnout, and maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the process,” White said.
He added the Municipal Act allows for vote by mail – a process used by 250 municipalities to conduct elections in Ontario.
White said the system eliminates the need for polling stations, advance polling, and proxy voting. “It is typically more expensive to have a vote by ballot election and voter turnout will be less than that of a vote by mail.”
In 2009, the previous Minto council considered a report about various voting methods.
White suggested if council is seriously considering changing the election format, earlier direction is preferred since that requires additional work such as identifying accessible polling sites, acquiring poll kits, and hiring and training poll staff.
White said since the 1999 amalgamation creating the Town of Minto, “in-person voting has never occurred.” The 2000 vote was conducted via telephone vote, while subsequent elections in 2003, 2006, and 2010 were vote mail. During that time the cost to hold those elections dropped from $27,295 to $17,182.
The participation rate has always been over 50% with the most recent turnout at 56.4%.
White said while “staff can understand the interest in more traditional voting methods, the benefit must make sense relative to the anticipated higher cost and the projected lower turnout.” He noted that if there is interest in providing the option of limited voting in person, that can be accommodated in election planning.
But, he said, “If council moves ahead with that option, it should be limited and only under clearly communicated circumstances. We would be breaking new ground if we went to some other form [of voting].”
Councillor Ron Elliott, stated he is very passionate about his belief in the traditional paper ballot.
“I assume if we do support this tonight, we’ll be moving toward the vote by mail, even if, as Mr. White said, we don’t have to.”
Elliott said, “I truly believe that [vote by mail] is not a democratic way to vote.”
Even if there is a 25% increase in the overall votes cast, he asked if that just means 25% of the people are voting twice.
He cited the example of a person getting his own ballot and one for a daughter attending university. If she is unable to get home to cast her ballot, that person would potentially have two votes, by signing her name.
Elliott is convinced that situation is already happening in Minto.
“In democracy where you are supposed to get one vote, one chance … some people are getting two, three, or four chances. I don’t think it’s fair, and I don’t think it’s right.”
He said even if only one person admits being able to vote twice, “I still don’t think it’s right.”
Elliott said even if it costs more money, there are more checks in place to confirm who is voting with the traditional system. When he takes part in the provincial or federal elections, they check the voters list to make certain who that person is.
“In our [municipal] election, I can walk in with a whole pile of ballots, and we put them in the box. Who knows who really signed all the ballots? If we allow this, we may be allowing people to be elected, who might not be elected otherwise.”
First and foremost, Elliott said a move to the traditional ballot vote would preserve the integrity of the voting process.
He said before going to the polls, he and his wife often discuss the candidates and who they might vote for. But once at the poll, they vote according to their own choice.
He said if the two ballots are being filled out at the same time at the kitchen table, one spouse might influence the other. “Does the cost outweigh what we should be doing just because it is easier?” he asked council members.
He said community people he has talked to want to go back to the polls to vote.
Elliott said there are other opportunities for people unable to get to the polls – such as proxy votes and polling stations in local senior homes.
Councillor Mary Lou Colwell said, “There is no doubt that vote by mail has brought up our percentages.”
Elliott responded by asking if it has actually increased the number of voters, or the number of people voting two or three times.
Colwell said perhaps she is being naive, but she does not believe that was happening to any great degree.
“Once is too many,” Elliott said.
Deputy-mayor Terry Fisk said, “This is a trust issue,” and elected officials and citizens must trust one another and give the benefit of the doubt.
In the case of university students, Fisk hoped that parents would ask their children how they want to vote.
“I think you have to be careful with this approach and not create the wrong impression.”
Councillor Ron Faulkner said, “I also believe that elections and ballots are a matter of integrity.”
He asked if people voting twice is that much different from proxy voting.
Faulkner favours the mail-in votes, “because I truly believe that when it comes to integrity, rural Ontario and the town of Minto, that the integrity is there.”
He suggested other voting methods do not eliminate potential abuse of the system. If there is a problem with the system, that is what needs to be corrected, either with a check system, or verification of the signature.
He said he suspects DataFix has encountered similar types of questions and would have the resources to look into an enhanced verification system.
Councillor David Turton said there has been dialogue on the matter for some time. But there has also been discussions about how to get more people to vote.
“I think this is a great idea. We have to put a little bit of faith in the system.”
Councillor Rick Hembly said people he has talked to “enjoy the evening out, going down to the arena and putting an X beside the person they want to vote for. I’ve never had anyone come up to me at the post office or grocery store or stop me in the street to say how much they loved the mail in vote.”
Hembly said his vote would support the opinions of the people he has talked with.
Mayor George Bridge said one of the reasons he favours the mail in vote is he deals with seniors in his life. He also cited residents of the Pike Lake area.
While he realizes there are advance polls, Bridge said some residents head south before those polls are set.
“They really enjoyed it this year, because they were able to vote.”
And, unlike Hembly, Bridge said, “The majority of people I’ve talked to actually indicated to me they enjoyed the vote.”
He too, agreed there is a concern for the potential of fraud, “But anyone who would commit voter fraud should look internally to themselves.”
Bridge said the convenience fact and a 56% turnout are both factors warranting support for the mail-in vote.
Plus, the mayor had already talked to White about having some polling stations available the day of the election – where completed voting kits could be dropped off on the election day.
Colwell said there is a considerable time between now and when the next election is to be held. That time could be used to see how other municipalities are working on similar concerns.
Fisk suggested the possibility of posing the question on the next ballot – as a referendum. “If we get 90% who say they prefer a ballot – then we have our answer.”
White said each voter’s kit requires a statutory signature, which, in turn, requires the voter to act in good faith.
Elliott suggested if council is to proceed with a mail in vote, further work should be done to add more checks to the system or random checking of signatures.
Councillor voted to continue with the mail in vote system and to sign the contract for DataFix. The move will allow locations to give voters to drop off completed voter kits in Palmerston, Harriston, and Clifford.
