Voters and politicians despairing at the dismal voter turnout in elections across Alberta Monday might have to look east to find the solution to making voting at any level of government more convenient.
Given that it appears statements of “democratic duty” and “guiding the future of our city” weren’t enough to persuade more than 34 per cent of St. Albertans to show up at the polls despite a $10,000 ad blitz on the part of the city and a raft of contentious issues at stake, it appears the province will have to look at simply making voting less onerous. The answer to that is introducing electronic voting, specifically allowing voting from home or work via the Internet or telephone.
The pathetic voter turnout is not just limited to municipal elections — both provincial and federal elections during the last 10 years have seen waning interest. The inevitable effect is ending up with a government elected by only a small percentage of the population. Can we really call winning a majority of one-third or even half of all possible votes cast a strong mandate?
Despite opening earlier, closing later and locating polls in convenient and accessible locations, there has been no significant impact on voter turnout. Unless we’re dealing with really hot-button issues in close races, complacency, lack of time or outright sloth seems to rule, which makes the Internet the next best option.
The province has passed legislation piloting such ideas as electronic voting in byelections, but it could still take years to introduce it to mainstream voters. The challenges are daunting — ensuring voter secrecy and guarding against electoral fraud, as well as technical problems and potential cyber-attacks to any online voting system. Yet that hasn’t deterred voters in Ontario from going electronic in their municipal elections Monday. Electors in numerous municipalities will be able to vote over the Internet or even over the phone, either from home or from specific Internet polling stations. For the less computer-savvy, some stations will offer touch-screen voting instead of paper ballots. In Lanark County, which includes Mississippi Mills, Montague, Perth and Tay Valley, voters have already been mailed a PIN they can use until election day Monday to vote online or using the phone.
It will be interesting to see how well the process works and how many challenges emerge as a result, as well as how it will affect voter turnout. Elections Canada has already expressed an interest in moving to electronic voting, as have several provinces. In order for Alberta municipalities to embrace an electronic era, the province must first be sold on the concept of e-voting and subsequently amend the Local Authorities Election Act to allow it.
There is no interest in making voting mandatory, as it is in countries like Australia. If the federal government is willing to scrap the long-form census because it doesn’t like the penalties associated with not completing it, it’s not about to fine or jail people for not voting. In the last three years alone we’ve seen a small eruption of new ways of doing business online, whether through social media such as Facebook or Twitter or through increasingly capable cellphones that can even be used for electronic banking. Many complaints about voting ad campaigns focus on the lack appeal to the younger demographic. Given our youngest are often our brightest in the ways of computers, perhaps offering an electronic option is the best way to engage them.
The status quo is no longer sufficient to uphold democracy. If Ontario’s experiments come back with accolades of success, both the federal and provincial governments should be prepared to start implementing electronic voting sooner than later.
