After a lengthy debate Tuesday, city council voted 7-6 to do away with paper ballots in the 2018 municipal election, moving to a full online vote.
However, residents can still go to voting locations on election day, where anyone uncomfortable with online voting can receive help.
Internet voting was generally well-received in 2014, said city clerk Caroline Hallsworth. There were issues at some polling stations, including the Caruso Club, where voters stood in long lines before getting to cast a ballot.
Hallsworth said it was a perfect storm of problems, including people began lining up 90 minutes before voting began, technical issues, and the fact there were two referendum questions, which meant voting to three times as long for some people.
“The referendum questions really slowed the lines,” she said.
“The perfect storm that occurred at the Caruso Club also occurred in my ward,” said Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini. “People were leaving the polling station after an hour, hour and a 15 minutes out at the Tom Davies Arena.”
Vagnini also said he had residents tell him they voted multiple times, using families online voting cards and PINs.
Hallsworth said voter fraud is an issue no matter what form of voting is used, and that people have been investigated in Sudbury in every election in recent memory.
“Anyone who received two voter cards, if you use the second card, you are committing an offence,” Hallsworth said. “And we referred a couple of cases to the police in the 2014, 2010 and 2006 election.”
She said the voting software is capable of detecting different forms of irregularities, for example, someone voting for their entire family.
“In Halifax in 2010, a man was successfully prosecuted for doing just that,” she said. “It's based on multiple votes being cast in a short period of time from the same IP address … It was addressed as a criminal charge.”
Councillors heard that the RFP for voting included on for a paper and online voting system, but the bid came in $500,000 higher than it was in 2014.
So they recommended an options to move to a fully online vote, with citizen services centres, libraries and the election bus being used to help voters on election day.
Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh said online voting is “an evolution” of modern elections.
“We've gone from paper, to paper and online and this is the next step,” she said. “There is a tradition on voting day to be able to go some place. Some people wait until that day.”
Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan said many older residents much prefer the paper ballot, and that getting out to vote is a big deal for them.
“We've got a lot of people in this community that are over the age of 65,” Kirwan said. “A lot of the adults who are in their 80s and 90s, they look forward to paper and pencil.”
Kevin Fowke, the city's GM of corporate services, said the only thing missing will be the pencil and paper.
“Option 2 is meant to mimic that process where, you do go to a voting location on voting day, there will be, likely, a city staff person their to assist you,” Fowke said.
But Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said this is no way to treat the residents “who have paid taxes the longest.
“For them it's a privilege,” she said. “To take that option away from them is disrespectful.”
Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre agreed that no one likes change.
“It's new,” Lapierre said. “People hate change, but we have to adapt to it ... But whether they put their 'X' on a tablet or a piece of paper, going to the polling station is still something they can do if they choose to. And it will help with cost savings.”
How they voted:
- Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti: Yes
- Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini: No
- Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier: No
- Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac: No
- Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan: No
- Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre: Yes
- Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo: Yes
- Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer: Yes
- Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh: Yes
- Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier: Yes
- Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds: No
- Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann: No
- Mayor Brian Bigger: Yes
Passed 7-6
@darrenmacd
