IserveU not set to launch until January
Website recruiting members to join its online community
Simon Whitehouse
Northern News Services
Friday, October 30, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
IserveU organizers say their controversial online voting platform won't be ready until January after posting disappointing results in last week's municipal election. Only one out of three IserveU candidates were elected to city council.
The January launch means the e-democracy group will miss one of the most important votes of all for council - the city budget. All three IserveU candidates said they were opposed to a tax increase during an all-candidates forum with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.
In June, founder Paige Saunders, a web developer from New Zealand, announced his group would be launching a website that would allow citizens to log in and vote "yay" or "nay" to city motions. The organization also planned to have candidates on council who would take direction from results from the website and vote accordingly.
On Saturday, the organization held the first of its monthly information sessions at Northern United Place to provide an introduction on how people can use the website yk.iserveu.ca.
Saunders and Dane Mason, a senior advisor and municipal candidate who ran under the IserveU banner said they were not discouraged by the organization getting only one candidate - Rommel Silverio - elected or that the actual site launch has to wait until the new year. If anything it has been a positive development since the election, they said, because it allows the website to develop at a slower pace for citizens to understand without people feeling threatened by it.
"It is great," Saunders said when asked how he felt about one IserveU candidate being elected. "People were getting a little over-excited in the lead-up to the election. I think if (IServeU) had three candidates in right now we would have been under an immense amount of pressure on the organization. To be honest, we were kind of hoping we didn't get three people."
Silverio said he is prepared to make decisions on the budget without the website being launched and added that it was "not necessarily" expected to be running in time for the upcoming deliberations.
"Right now I'm there and we want to make sure there are a lot of people engaged (through the website)," he said. "If there are only a few people, it is not worthwhile."
Organizers tested the website for a small group of about 20 people who attended Saturday's session to ensure the site system functions properly for January's launch.
"We gave a good synopsis about how (the website) development process works, what the idea is behind it and where we should be going, how users should shape council decisions but also the way information goes through the website itself," Mason said. "We gave a demonstration of the site in how you can log in, verify your identity and comment so that you can see it done first hand."
The afternoon meeting allowed organizers to answer questions about how the system works and provide information about the technology sector in Yellowknife.
Arlene Hache was one person who attended the event and is hopeful about its potential for discussion about political issues at the territorial level one day.
"I am interested in the fact (the website) creates debates," she said. "It creates real conversation in why you agree or disagree with a motion, changes your mind and respond to information.
It has a potential to real conversation about issues that are important."
Saunders said those interested in signing up for the online community must watch for future meetings and bring identification to sign up and be a part of it.
Mason and Saunders said an information session will be held once a month, during which new users can learn how to use the IserveU program.
"We are going to be working with the people who have signed up (Saturday) and others that come along to make sure there aren't any bugs or show stoppers (with the website) and that everything that goes in is important," Saunders said. "We want to make sure the security is all taken care of."
Mason and Saunders said they are hoping to have "thousands" of Yellowknifers registered during January in hopes of having a strong voting sample for motions that are presented to council.
In the meantime, people can register leading up to the new year.
