TSIIGEHTCHIC
In percentage terms, a pilot of electronic voting by the Gwichya Gwich'in Band in Tsiigehtchic is producing some impressive results.

That's because 32 per cent of votes cast in a ratification vote for a proposed custom election code earlier this month were cast by telephone or online - which is believed to have been the first such voting in the NWT - while the rest were cast in the more traditional way of mail or at the ballot box.

Nonetheless, only 25 votes were cast by any method. There are 368 eligible voters in the band.

Graeme Drew, a Vancouver-based consultant working with the band on the proposed election code, said because of that low turnout a referendum committee decided that telephone and online voting would reopen April 17 and run until May 15.

Mail-in ballots will be accepted up to May 15.

The initial online and telephone voting ran from April 7 to 14 and was followed by a polling station in Tsiigethchic on April 15. Partial results were announced on April 16.

Drew blamed a tight timeline for possibly not getting voting information to eligible voters soon enough by mail, resulting in only six online votes and two telephone votes.

"We probably didn't give enough time for members to respond," he said.

"So the turnout was low. And what the committee has decided to do is extend that deadline, which I think is a good decision."

Drew said he received eight calls from band members around the country saying they received information but didn't have enough time to vote or missed the deadline.

"That was a big reason why we extended it," he said, explaining that, if eight members contacted the band, there are probably more in the same situation.

One advantage of electronic voting is it allows easier participation by band members living outside of Tsiigehtchic.

That includes Martin Glas of Spruce Grove, Alta., who voted online in the referendum.

"I thought it was very seamless and very easy, and it was very convenient," he said.

Glas said he normally votes in Gwichya Gwich'in Band elections and referendums by using mail-in ballots, but he believes online voting to be better.

"It's more convenient because sometimes I work out of town a lot and I don't get my mail quite as often as I should, and sometimes I've missed a vote because of the mail," he said.

Only about 70 members of the Gwichya Gwich'in Band live in Tsiigehtchic.

Drew said the aim of the referendum is to obtain a quorum of 20 per cent.

That works out to 73 votes, he said. "We still got a ways to go."

Drew pointed out a "fairly strong" 74 per cent of voters - 17 out of 23 ballots cast, not including a spoiled ballot and a no-decision - were in favour of accepting the draft election code, meaning it will likely be used for an election on June 15.

The proposed custom election code would mean a number of changes, including extending the terms for chief and councillors to three from two years, eliminating proxy voting, providing a process to amend the code, and empowering an impartial body to oversee all aspects of an election.

The election code referendum is a work in progress, said Drew.

"It's not the end of the world if we don't hit the quorum in a month. We could even continue it theoretically beyond the election."

Drew expects electronic voting will be used for the June 15 election for chief and council.

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