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City Council to Discuss Municipal Voting Methods

Monday, 13 January 2025 06:46

By Marcie Culbert X @marcieculbert

A report from staff highlights the pros and cons of the online, hybrid, and paper-based election models.

WOODSTOCK - Woodstock City Council is laying the groundwork for the next municipal election.

Council will look over a report highlighting three different voting methods during this week's meeting.

It takes a deep dive into online and hybrid voting and how they would work in the Friendly City. The online voting method would have everyone cast their ballot using a phone, tablet or computer and the hybrid method would allow people to choose if they want to vote online or use the traditional paper ballot.

According to the staff report, having an online option for voting will increase accessibility and voter participation, but there's still cyber security risks and the potential for technical issues to consider. Some voters may also have a hard time trusting the online voting method.

Information from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) states that 217 municipalities offered online voting for the 2022 municipal election. Thirty-seven of them offered the hybrid model including Brantford, Cambridge, Kingston, Markham, and North Bay.

In terms of pricing, the hybrid method is the most expensive voting option with a price tag of $292,650. Online voting would cost $204,500 and traditional paper-ballot voting would cost $157,300.

You can read the full staff report in the council agenda online here.

The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. this Thursday and it will be livestreamed online.

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