In the wake of Edmonton’s decision not to go ahead with online voting in the fall campaign, the provincial government has withdrawn its support for the idea as well. Strathcona County, which initially partnered with Edmonton for online voting, was set to vote earlier this week on including it in their election. But Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths wrote the county a letter saying the province would not support the move. “As yet Edmonton and St. Albert didn’t have confidence in the system so we are not going to run a real project where people are actually voting on the internet in this election. It’s too high risk.” he said in an interview. Griffiths said elections have to be completely reliable and he doesn’t believe the technology is there.
Edmonton Coun. Ben Henderson, who supported the move, said it was disappointing other municipalities were taken down by Edmonton’s lack of support. “I am guessing that the province wanted us all to be doing it together and we started a ball rolling, which was unfortunate,” he said. “I feel badly for our other partners that we took them with us.”
Full Article: Alberta government withdraws support from online voting | Metro.