City council has approved the use of paper ballots for the 2022 municipal election, but if we are going to be fair to all eligible voters, there is more that we should be doing to make it easier for people to use the paper ballots.
For example, we are only providing the opportunity to vote with a paper ballot on Election Day, Oct. 24. There is no scheduled advance voting for anyone who wishes to use the traditional paper and pencil option.
Instead, they will all have to show up to one of about 25 voting locations across the city in on Election Day if they want to use a paper ballot to vote. This may also be problematic if we happen to be experiencing another wave of COVID and end up forcing a large number of people to gather in a high-risk crowded indoor setting to cast their ballot.
On the other hand, we are permitting online voting for a period of almost 11 days, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 24, inclusive. We are also encouraging residents to use the computers that are available at our Citizen Service Centres to cast their online vote if they do not have access to their own computer or internet service.
Staff will not be providing any form of assistance to people who wish to use the city computers to vote, but at least the municipal facilities and equipment will be available for this purpose.
In order to provide fair and equitable access to all of our residents when it comes to voting in the 2022 municipal election, I feel that we should be giving consideration to making paper ballot voting available as an option at all of our Citizen Service Centres for the same period of time that we are allowing online voting.
After all, we are providing our facilities for online voting, and so it only makes sense that we should also be making those same facilities available for anyone who wishes to vote in-person using a paper ballot.
Historically, the data is pretty revealing when evaluating the impact of electronic voting on our local participation rates during the last three municipal elections.
For example, in 2010 there were 57,373 votes cast out of 115,318 registered voters for a voter turnout of 49.75 per cent. There was no internet voting for this election. It was all done though paper ballots.
The 2014 Municipal was the first time that online voting was introduced in Greater Sudbury. That year there were 59,686 votes cast out of 117,701 registered voters for a voter turnout of 50.07 per cent. Even though we made it more convenient for people to vote, and even though there was a special referendum on store hours that generated a great deal of interest, there was no significant increase in voter turnout as a result of the addition of a much more convenient method of voting. What is more striking is that out of all of the people who voted in 2014, only 45 per cent used online voting. The majority, 55 per cent, still preferred the traditional paper ballot method of voting.
Remarkably, city council decided to remove the paper ballot option for the 2018 municipal election, going with online voting exclusively. As a result, in 2018 there were 52,087 votes cast out of 115,784 registered voters for a voter turnout of only 45 per cent. And so, with no paper ballots available, and despite the fact that this was the second election using electronic voting, we ended up with one of the lowest voter turn-outs ever in Greater Sudbury.
It is understandable that some members of staff and council would like to see more people using the more modern online voting. It is clearly a much more convenient way to vote and utilizes the advanced technology that we have available. But I think the evidence is overwhelming that the use of online voting has not increased the participation rates of local residents in municipal elections. It is clear that many people living in the City of Greater Sudbury prefer to cast their ballots the “old-fashioned” way, with paper and pencil. That is the way we vote in provincial and federal elections, and for many, that is the only truly legitimate way of voting.
Therefore, since so many residents of our city have demonstrated that they prefer using paper ballots, I think that we should be providing them with the same opportunity that we are providing to those who prefer online voting. We should be holding advance voting for in-person paper ballot voting for the same entire period of time that advance voting is taking place for online voting.
I do not think it would be out of the question for the city to set up advance voting stations at all of our Citizen Service Centres from Oct 14 to Oct. 23. There are already 25 voting stations across the City on Election Day.
The right to vote is one of the most important fundamental principles of any democracy. There is no cost too great to provide each of our citizens with the opportunity to vote in the manner in which they feel most comfortable and acceptable to them. For many of our residents, voting in person with a paper ballot preserves for them the sanctity and dignity of this very important fulfillment of what they feel is their duty as a citizen. I think it is the duty of city council to ensure that the right to vote is preserved and protected for all of our residents.
Robert Kirwan is the Greater Sudbury city councillor for Ward 5.
