Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
Alberta municipalities are looking for the provincial government to reconsider its decision to ban electronic vote tabulations in next year’s municipal elections.
A resolution to be presented to delegates at the Alberta Municipalities conference in Red Deer this week calls on the province to allow the tabulators to “provide accurate, cost-effective and timely results for Alberta voters.”
The proposal to advocate the province to reconsider its decision comes from the City of St. Albert, and was seconded by the Town of Rocky Mountain House.
Cathy Heron, mayor of St. Albert, told Shaye Ganam of QR Calgary that she doubts that banning electronic vote counters would improve the local election process.
“The tables were brought in to improve the process and to get more accurate results,” said Heron. “Now, human error has been introduced back in.”
Removing electronic tabulators was part of Bill 20, a lengthy list of amendments to the province’s Local Authority Elections Act, which was introduced in April.
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said the changes were made to give municipalities “sufficient time” to prepare for the next municipal elections in October 2025.
Get daily national news
Get the top news, political, economic and current affairs headlines of the day, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“It is important for Albertans to feel they can trust the methods and results of local elections and requiring that all votes be counted by hand will strengthen their confidence in the election outcome, which is better for democracy,” read the statement from spokeswoman Heather Jenkins.
Voters will typically fill out a paper ballot and deposit it in an electronic tabulator to record their vote, but the paper ballots will remain accessible if a manual recount of the vote is required.
The decision of St. Albert raises concerns with hand-only counting votes, including the many different votes on one ballot for mayor, councilors, school board trustees as well as referendum or plebiscite questions.
It also notes that the move could also increase “the likelihood of delayed results, errors, and increased costs,” for municipalities that have not relied strictly on manual vote counting.
“If I had heard the majority of Albertans really questioning these things, I would fully support the province on this, but they haven’t done that work,” Heron said. “It’s a big decision on the cost of municipalities; once again, municipalities get the short end of the stick. “
Earlier this month, the City of Red Deer presented a report to its city council after a preliminary review of the “process and challenges” anticipated for the next municipal election.
The review found that administering the election would cost nearly $1.5 million without the electronic tabulations, about 3.5 times the cost of previous elections in that city.
That figure includes an estimated $780,000 to hire 200 temporary staff for eight-hour shifts each day to count votes.
Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston told Global News it would take four days for election results to be counted and verified.
“The longer the outcome, the more uncertain the outcome becomes,” he said. “You want to be able to get a quick, verifiable, reliable result for people.”
Johnston said he spoke with McIver at the Alberta Municipalities conference Wednesday and raised concerns about the estimated costs, especially for mid-sized cities in the province.
“We are asking the province, if they go in this direction of hand counting, that they compensate municipalities for the additional costs,” said Johnston.
The City of Calgary told Global News the costs associated with the requirements in Bill 20 are estimated to be $1.3 million for the 2025 municipal election.
City officials noted that would include requirements to use a permanent register of electors and additional election workers, supplies and facility rental costs associated with manual vote counting.
The decision will be put to a vote at Thursday’s conference, which will also include a session with comments from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Official opposition leader Naheed Nenshi is expected to speak in the afternoon session.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://globalnews.ca/news/10774388/alberta-municipalities-pushing-back-ban-electronic-tabulators/
