Internet and telephone voting approved for 2022 election

April 29, 2021 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 2022 municipal election is more than a year away, but Shelburne Town Council is already authorizing alternative methods for voting.

During their council meeting on Monday (April 26), Council approved the alternative methods of telephone and internet voting following a report from Clerk Jennifer Willoughby.

“By adding telephone voting in conjunction with internet voting, there’s an enhance level of convenience and access, allowing voters to cast a ballot remotely from anywhere they have access to a phone line within the voting period,” said Willoughby, in the report to council.

The Town of Shelburne has previously used both internet and telephone voting as a voting option for the 2018 municipal election and school board elections.

According to the report to council, the 2014 election utilized a vote in-person method and saw a 35.56 percent voter turnout, while the 2018 which allowed for alternative methods saw 38.89 per cent.

Part of the decision to provide an alternative method for voters to cast their ballot for the election, is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing concerns of more waves.

“All aspects of the 2022 election planning must shift to accommodate the reality of the global pandemic,” said Willoughby.

“Planning for municipal elections begins years in advance so that programs and practices can be safely implemented by voting day, preparation is well underway for the next Town of Shelburne municipal election in October 2022. Given the continued impact on public health and civic participation, election planning for 2022 must now shift to acknowledge and accommodate the reality of COVID-19.”

The Town of Shelburne will be partnering with Intelivote Systems Inc. to offer the alternative method of voting, which has been quoted at costing $13,165 based on the number of eligible electors from 2018 (4,876). Willoughby added that the price will be adjusted based on the number of eligible voters, once a final list of voters is produced.

“It is anticipated that the quoted price could increase based on occupancy of the new subdivisions,” said Willoughby.

The Town each year contributes $5,000 into an election reserve, which will contain $25,000 for the 2022 election based on the 2021 budget. The 2018 municipal elections total cost was $16,284.

Deputy Mayor Steve Anderson, following the report, recalled instances in the 2018 election where help was required for the alternative methods and questioned the policies for 2022.

“An election policy will be brought forward for council’s review that relates to the internet voting and telephone voting methods. We’ll have to keep our six feet distance, if that cannot happen, masks and protective eyewear are required to be worn,” said Willoughby. “We are willing to go out and help each elector that is having issues.”

Willoughby also noted the possibility of establishing alternative voting location for in-person, rather than having Town Hall as the one location.

Anderson also questioned whether there would be pre-screen questions as part of the policy, which Willoughby confirmed there would be due to mandates from Public Health.

The next municipal election is scheduled for October of 2022.