|
Township leery of E-voting system By Liz Dadson |
Huron-Kinloss council To Comment on this article Click Here |
|||
|
Despite assurances that electronic voting is the way of the future, Huron-Kinloss council is leery of the system and how it affected results in the Oct. 25 municipal election. Clerk Sonya Watson told council last night (Nov. 15) that the voter turn-out was 34.5 per cent which was down compared to 45.37 per cent in 2006 and 52.98 per cent in 2003. She said this may have happened because there was no major issue forcing public debate; the number of contested positions was low; and there was no all-candidates meeting to help spark interest. The E-Voting method worked well, she said, noting that the voting period began on Oct. 18 at 8:30 a.m., and voters could access the system 24 hours per day, seven days per week, through to Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. Watson said a voter help-line was available and the two main items that seemed to consistently be a problem for callers were:
She said that other than the two major items, and other minor problems resulting from people not reading the instructions properly, the E-voting method was working well. Until about 6:45 p.m. on Election day when calls started coming in and election staff started noting delays in the Intelivote system. Staff and callers began receiving messages of "diagnostic error" on the Internet, and receiving a message to "try again later" on the telephone, said Watson. The voting period was extended to 9 p.m. so everyone could vote. In a follow-up meeting with Intelivote, Watson said that the system became overloaded due to a new feature the company offered for this election, "the candidate module." Beginning at 5 p.m. on Election Day, hundreds of candidates waiting for results began signing on to the system to access "real time" updates on voter turn-out. This repetitive activity, combined with the high voter activity and administrative functions, led to the slow down. "The president of Intelivote Systems Inc. apologized repeatedly for what happened," said Watson. "We received statistics that showed 45 people voted in the extended period between 8-9 p.m. There is no question those who used the system in the last hour would have experienced frustration and may have even given up. We have no way of knowing that number." She said the company is offering a reduction to the initial agreement that was signed, as well as offering the service free of charge for by-elections, plebiscites or surveys, as a gesture of goodwill. "I feel E-voting will be the method of choice for a large number of municipalities across Ontario for the 2014 municipal election and I support the system," she said. She also noted that there were problems with the voters' list this year. Although the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) took steps which included a direct mailing of enumeration forms, many tenants and new property owners were missing from the list, she said. Staff did what it could to ensure people were on the voters' list but, ultimately, it was up to them to check the list and ensure they were on it so they could vote, said Watson.
|
Councillor Jim Hanna asked what the discount was going to be from
Intelivote. "I have in mind about 50 per cent. After what happened, why
would we ever use them again?" He is concerned about voters who tried to use the Internet or telephone and were unable to get through and then quit trying. "If it discouraged even one voter from voting, I'm not sure we could recommend them again," he said. Councillor Lillian Abbott agreed, saying some people who used the phone to vote weren't sure the system had worked. "With 10 per cent fewer voters, there's a concern that they tried to vote and failed." "Two senior citizens came up to me and said that they used the Internet to vote and were happy with it," said deputy mayor Wilfred Gamble. "I have no problem with the system," said Hanna, "just the crash that happened later." "There are a lot of other service providers," said Watson. "Could we go with E-voting and a regular poll too?" asked councillor Don Murray. "Yes," said Watson. "That was done in Brockton. Staff had to deactivate the PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) for those who voted by regular poll." As for the voters' list, Watson said that staff did as much as it could to ensure all eligible voters were on the list. "We had 500 names taken off our list by MPAC, causing more problems this time than the last election," she said. "If we had a question on the enumeration list, we sent a form for the voters to fill out; we had only a 30 per cent return." Abbott said that if someone sold his home and became a renter or moved to the area and rented a place, he would not be on the voters' list. "People have to take responsibility to ensure they are on the list," she said. "MPAC staff told us that it maintains properties, not people," said Watson. "So, they shouldn't be doing the voters' list," said Abbott. "People vote, not properties," added councillor Anne Eadie. "A lot of renters were not on the list." Watson said the Results by Poll information showed that Ripley had the lowest voter turn-out at 11.23 per cent, while the highest was 26.58 per cent in Point Clark. "The E-voting method was well-received in this area and the beach association presidents expressed their thanks for the E-voting method which made it possible to vote any time from anywhere at their convenience. The stats revealed that many people voted during the day with the highest percentage of votes taking place between 9 a.m. and noon." The Internet method of voting was used by 72 per cent of voters. Of the 50s and 60s age group, 954 of 1,237 eligible voters (77 per cent) used the Internet versus the phone. E-voting was used by 21 out-of-country residents, 54 out-of-province residents, and two voters located in India. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
|
|||
|
 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Monday, November 15, 2010 |
