Move towards accessibility for this fall’s municipal election
If you haven’t seen the names and faces of mayoral candidates on signs around Guelph, be informed that the city is fast approaching a municipal election. The official election day is set for Monday, Oct. 27.
The current mayor, Karen Farbridge, is seeking re-election for her third consecutive term. Farbridge also held the position from 2000 – 2003.
A total of seven candidates are running for office this time around, but critics contend that the main race lies between Farbdige and current Ward 4 Councillor Cam Guthrie. This municipal election will also see a number of candidates running for City Councillor for each of the city’s six wards.
In an effort to make voting more convenient and accessible during this election process, the City of Guelph is supplying people with a new way of casting their vote. It is now possible to cast your vote electronically at any time during the advance voting period, from Oct. 7 to Oct. 24.
The City is making the move to implement online voting in attempts to make voting more appealing to a wide variety of people and to encourage new voters to use their vote.
For any citizens wondering whether or not they are eligible to vote, it has never been easier to find out. The City has launched a website specific to the municipal election, allowing potential voters to easily check if they are on the voters list. Anyone who is not on the voter list, but is otherwise an eligible voter in Canada, can sign up to vote as long as you have a photo ID and proof of Guelph residence, such as a lease agreement.
Guelph is not the first municipality in Ontario to allow voters to cast their ballot online, but they are among the first few to effectively implement this system. The number of municipalities to adopt this voting method, however, has been on the rise ever since it was first introduced in Markham in 2003.
According to the Internet Voting Project, which is the name behind an international collaborative effort to understand the effects and implications of voting online, 97 out of the 414 municipalities in Ontario that are running elections this fall plan on making use of online voting.
The popular support for online voting appears to be increasing, but it remains to be seen whether online voting really will bring more people to the polls or increase the voter turnout of the younger generations. Although there is still contention over the reliability of this relatively new voting method, the City of Guelph is moving full speed ahead this fall, meaning that voting in Guelph this election will be the most accessible and convenient it has ever been.