Consider electronic voting: election chief
Report calls for overhaul of outdated laws, changes to broaden powers
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, June 3, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The top election official is calling on the territorial government to consider electronic voting for the next election as a way to make it easier to cast a ballot.
Nicole Latour, the territory's chief electoral officer, says it is time to explore electronic voting for the next general election. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
"It's time," said Nicole Latour, the territory's chief electoral officer, in an interview Wednesday after the release of her summary of the 2015 vote.
It's a step that could put the NWT ahead of the pack nationally when it comes to how people can vote, she said.
Whether electronic voting refers to still having a polling station with a computer, or fully being able to vote remotely via Internet is something she said can be determined later.
Any sort of electronic voting would need security steps to confirm the person voting is eligible, she said, adding there could still be paper ballots for those without easy access to a computer.
She lauded E-voting as a chance to boost turnout.
The report states very low turnout figures already widely reported don't necessarily indicate the success of the election. The average turnout in Yellowknife districts was 33 per cent. Territory-wide, turnout was at 44 per cent, down from 47 per cent in 2011.
"If the efficacy of Elections NWT continues to be measured solely by voter turnout, there is a need to engineer significant improvements within the existing electoral modality, or embrace radical innovation that will accommodate the incremental societal expectation of election technology," the report concludes.
Increased use of new technology is just one of 43 recommendations for changes in Latour's report, tabled this week in the legislative assembly reviewing the 2015 general election.
The document suggests the way Elections NWT is set up and the laws that govern voting are outdated and in need of an overhaul to make elections easier to administer.
"We're doing things kind of old school," she said.
The report comes with five overarching recommendations:
- Rewrite the Elections and Plebiscites Act to clarify and remove outdated sections;
- Increase use of technology for elections in time for 2019 vote;
- Review the way Elections NWT functions;
- Expand mandate of Elections NWT to cover municipal and school board elections;
- Hold elections on Saturdays.
The idea of moving election day from Monday to Saturday has been proposed before by the previous chief electoral officer but rejected.
Some of the recommendations would broaden the scope of the organization and expand the powers of the chief electoral officer to make decisions without what she described as multiple cumbersome steps. The report notes the office is restricted in making decisions that are practical or efficient and productivity is "compromised as a result of having to work within the confines of government policy and systems that are not well matched to the agency's operational requirements."
She cited the number of steps required to repay a candidate deposit - paid as part of getting on the ballot - as an example, because the GNWT ends up paying more than the deposit in the end.
Other notable recommendations include extending the term of the chief electoral officer beyond the current four years, reducing the time a person must live in the territory from 12 months to six months to be eligible to vote, limit third-party advertising for candidates, allow liquor sales on voting day and clarifying that election spending is limited to $30,000. Her report will be considered by a committee of MLAs who could decide to move some of her recommendations ahead.
One of those recommendations would give her office more freedom when dealing with candidates who aren't able to file their election expense reports on time.
The way the law is currently written, those who are elected have 60 days after the vote to file the paperwork. If the report isn't complete or the deadline is missed, the newly elected MLA must file paperwork with the NWT Supreme Court to be able to take their seat in the assembly.
This happened with eight MLAs earlier this year, prompting calls to alter the law to give it more flexibility.
Latour said she's hoping to be re-appointed to the office to see through the work she's started.
