Voters in Yarmouth won’t be filling out paper ballots or using polling booths in this year’s municipal election. Yarmouth town council voted late last week to do away with paper and conduct the October vote entirely by computer and telephone. Some communities that have chosen electronic voting have also opted for a paper ballot backup system, but the Town of Yarmouth is not one of them, said Mayor Phil Mooney. If folks don’t want to vote from their living rooms or the front seats of their cars using a smartphone, they can still come to town hall and use equipment set up there, said Mooney. “There’s going to be one central poll,” he said Saturday.
At town hall, computer stations will be set up, with a telephone off to the side, to allow anyone who can’t vote at home to come in and get the job done. “The returning officer will be there with some support staff and they’ll be able to go through the whole process with anybody,” said Mooney.
The new voting methods mean residents who are working in the Alberta oilfields or away at university or even convalescing in hospital may now vote with ease. Voters will get a PIN number and will use their date of birth as another identifying factor when logging on to vote or calling in by phone.
Full Article: Yarmouth opts for October e-vote | The Chronicle Herald.