When it comes to piloting new voting methods, such as allowing electors to cast their ballots online, Mayor Nolan Crouse is more than willing to pick up the cause.
So willing in fact, Crouse has even used Twitter to remind Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths of St. Albert’s willingness to pilot any kind of e-voting the province wants to test.
“I just want us moving onto the decade we’re in,” Crouse said. “That’s finding ways for people to become engaged.”
Earlier this month, Edmonton announced it would look at a pilot project to test Internet voting in its next civic election. The city said it would look at partnering with other municipalities that have expressed interest, such as Calgary, Strathcona County and St. Albert.
According to media reports, Edmonton city staff will report back to its council next fall.
Crouse believes using the Internet to better engage electors is an idea whose time has come, especially after the last municipal election saw voter turnout of barely 34 per cent.
“There has to be programs out there that are secure and I think we need to find those secure ways and make them happen at the next level of voting,” Crouse said.
That next level could be as simple as issuing PINs to voters to print off ballots they can mail in. Actually allowing voters to choose their candidates using a website might still be a few years away, but Crouse points to advances in conducting censuses online and the resulting success.
Locally the city has enjoyed success with its first foray into using the Internet to collect census data. In 2010, the last time the St. Albert conducted a census, 39 per cent of households used an online interface to complete the census, higher than the 33 per cent target the city was hoping for.
“If you can do it with a census, you can do it with voting,” Crouse said. “Somewhere in the world someone is making it happen in a very significant way, so let’s figure it out.”
Some municipalities in Ontario have already started experimenting with the idea, from issuing PINs to allow electors to vote either over the web or over the phone, to offering touch-screens instead of paper ballots at polling stations.
“I think that we’ve got the political will to do it,” Crouse said. “Obviously we’ve got a high percentage of computer users here.”
Crouse also pointed to St. Albert’s proximity to the legislature in case special meetings are required.
“So I’m saying let’s try something, let’s prepare to be the pilot and let’s figure out a way to help the province move through this.”
Not everyone on council is convinced of the need for taking voting online, however. Coun. Cam MacKay thinks traditional voting is not an onerous responsibility.
“It would be good to get some people who might not vote to get a chance, but you can take 20 minutes one day every three … four years now, and to go and vote municipally. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask someone to exercise their civic duty.”
