Canada: Internet voting kiboshed in Airdrie | Local | News | Airdrie Echo

It turns out Airdronians won’t be able to vote online in this year’s municipal election. On Monday, Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths sent word that Internet voting for municipal elections would not be held in Alberta. At least for now. Mayor Peter Brown was notified by Griffiths’ office Monday night that they were pulling the plug on the possibility of allowing municipalities like Airdrie to offer online voting in the 2013 municipal elections. Airdrie city council recently voted to use online voting if it was an option this year. Larger municipalities and their councils, like Edmonton and St. Albert, had scrapped plans to offer Internet voting overwhelmingly, citing high costs and possible fraudulent activity as key concerns during trial runs. “Since we don’t have proven technology yet and there isn’t confidence in the system, we won’t be proceeding,” Griffiths said in an interview with the Echo. “(Voting) is the most important franchise right that any citizen has and you have to make sure it’s never abused.”

Canada: Internet voting a no-go for Strathcona County | Global Edmonton

Residents in Strathcona County will not be using internet voting as an option for the 2013 municipal election. Tuesday afternoon, county councillors were set to vote on whether or not to move ahead with a project that would see online ballots cast as part of the advanced polls in October’s civic election. However, Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths put the brakes on the idea before council had the chance to vote. “I support continued research and experience with internet voting systems, but at this time, I am not prepared to support the use of internet voting for the October 2013 general election,” Griffiths wrote in a letter sent to Strathcona County Mayor, Linda Osinchuk.

Canada: Alberta government withdraws support from online voting | Metro

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the wake of Edmonton’s decision not to go ahead with online voting in the fall campaign, the provincial government has withdrawn its support for the idea as well.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.

Canada: Internet voting decision goes to Strathcona County council Tuesday | Edmonton Journal

Strathcona County council is expected to decide Tuesday if the municipality will proceed with an Internet voting pilot project that could see online ballots cast as part of October’s civic election. It’s the last chance for Internet voting in the capital region, after St. Albert and Edmonton city councils defeated proposals for Internet voting last month. Edmonton city staff tested a proposed online voting system for more than a year, including a mock “jelly bean election” and the verdict of a citizen jury. A report recommended Edmonton allow Internet voting for advance and special ballots in October’s civic election, but councillors worried the process wasn’t entirely secure and defeated the proposal Feb. 6. St. Albert councillors voted to stop work on the project two weeks later.

Canada: Airdrie to forge ahead with Internet voting | Airdrie Echo

After much debate yet again, Airdrie city council decided to forge ahead with Internet voting as an option in the upcoming municipal election, pending ministerial approval. The hot topic was brought forth to council once more on Monday night in wake of news that both Edmonton and St. Albert city councils had chosen to no longer pursue this alternative voting method at meetings in early February. A representative from Scytl, the company providing the service, was on hand to answer questions from councillors, which helped clarify questions that have been continually raised. Most of those regarded the safety of Internet voting, voter fraud and multiple votes, in addition to questions about why the other two municipalities had decided to not move forward with the process.

Canada: Risks outweigh gains with online voting | Linda Sloan/Edmonton Examiner

Last Wednesday, council voted 11-2 that an online voting option will not be made available in the 2013 municipal election. Most of my fellow councillors shared the same general concern that I did: that the protection against manipulation was not sufficiently guaranteed to warrant implementation of Internet voting. One of the most interesting comments made during council’s discussion of the report was that adopting an Internet vote would allow people to vote in their pajamas. That comment really struck a chord with me; should we have a system that allows people to vote in pajamas? I don’t believe so. I see the electoral process as an act of civic engagement. Campaigning requires door knocking, telephone calls, flyer distribution, and more, all to get a conversation going with the people an elected official hopes to represent. That sense of community and responsibility unique to a geographical place cannot be replicated online.

Canada: Door to online voting opens ever so slightly in Calgary | Metro

Calgarians won’t cast ballots online in October’s municipal election – and probably not in the 2017 election either – but the idea is receiving growing attention at city hall. “It is now potentially worth looking at, and I wouldn’t have said that two years ago,” said returning officer Barb Clifford, who has been paying close attention to the controversial idea. … Perhaps in 10 years, Ald. Richard Pootmans said he could see online voting in Calgary, but not as things currently stand. “I’m not sure the state of the technology is there right now,” he said.

Canada: St. Albert not likely to pursue Internet voting – City council will probably follow Edmonton’s lead | St. Albert Gazette

Edmonton’s decision not to proceed with an electronic voting pilot project likely means St. Albert will drop the idea as well, but with regrets. On Wednesday Edmonton councillors voted down a proposal to test out Internet voting in the October municipal election. Edmonton had partnered with St. Albert and Strathcona County for the pilot project, which would have offered electors the chance to vote in an advanced poll later this year. Mayor Nolan Crouse conceded that, with Edmonton’s vote, the project is likely doomed in St. Albert as well. “Likely we’re going to follow Edmonton and not pursue it,” Crouse said.

Canada: Airdrie council OK’s online voting system | Calgary Herald

Airdrie city council has approved an online voting system for the upcoming election in October. After the city’s success using an online census in 2010, manager of legislative services for Airdrie, Sharon Polyck, introduced the proposal for online voting last month in hopes the system would provide Airdronians with an alternative voting option. “It provides that convenience to residents and I think with the way things are going here with technology it’s important to our residents,” she said. Edmonton, Strathcona County and St. Albert were all part of the same pilot program as Airdrie, although Airdrie officials decided not to participate in the testing phase. Edmonton’s city council on Wednesday voted against using the online voting system this fall due to concerns such as hacking and voter fraud. But security was not as big an issue for Airdrie officials.

Canada: Alberta communities weigh online voting | Fast Forward Weekly

Communities across Alberta are deciding whether or not they will participate in the province’s online voting pilot project during this year’s municipal elections. The provincial government officially selected St. Albert, Grande Prairie and Strathcona County for the experiment, but other jurisdictions have the option of signing up. Fort Saskatchewan’s town council recently decided it’s not for them. After several weeks of debate, Airdrie’s leaders voted on February 6 to give electronic ballots a try. … Governments are attracted to Internet-based voting because of its convenience — people can vote whenever they want to over the election period, from their home. And that convenience may lead to a higher turnout. Yet many in government and the public worry about the security of online voting.

Canada: Edmonton city councillors reject online voting | MetroNews.ca

Edmontonians will not be able to cast their ballots online in the fall election. City councillors rejected the notion of allowing 12 days of online voting in advanced polls for the October election, worried that the proposed system would not be secure. Coun. Linda Sloan said she was simply not convinced that online voting would be safe and that the consequences are too high. “The morning after an election, if there are irregularities, it is almost too late,” she said. Sloan also argued that online voting in some ways ran against the spirit of elections.

Canada: Alberta communities weigh online voting | FFWD

Communities across Alberta are deciding whether or not they will participate in the province’s online voting pilot project during this year’s municipal elections. The provincial government officially selected St. Albert, Grande Prairie and Strathcona County for the experiment, but other jurisdictions have the option of signing up. Fort Saskatchewan’s town council recently decided it’s not for them. After several weeks of debate, Airdrie’s leaders voted on February 6 to give electronic ballots a try. … Governments are attracted to Internet-based voting because of its convenience — people can vote whenever they want to over the election period, from their home. And that convenience may lead to a higher turnout. Yet many in government and the public worry about the security of online voting.

Canada: Edmonton City Council turns down internet voting | Global Edmonton

On Wednesday morning, Edmonton’s city council voted against allowing internet voting in this year’s civic election.The main concern for those councillors who voted against internet voting is security and coercion. “Let’s say I have 20 friends. They don’t ever vote. I get a copy of their ID. I send them into you in some way or form from different outlets, from computers, have their passwords,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel. “So now I have the power of 25 votes, 20 votes, 15 votes, 12 votes, 3 votes. Not the ones in my house, but the ones outside my house. And that’s where I have concern with this,” added Mandel. “I don’t have a problem with internet voting. I like the idea of going in that direction. I’m worried that we may have needed more time to get this totally right so that we can say emphatically, yes, we’ve done every type of testing, and I’m not convinced yet that that’s been the case,” stated Ward 2 Councillor, Kim Krushell. Ben Henderson and Don Iveson were the only members of council who voted in favour of allowing online voting.

Canada: B.C. high court to hear voter ID laws could prevent homeless, seniors from say | Global News

The contention that federal voting laws requiring all people to present identification at the ballot box could deny society’s most vulnerable people from ticking their preferred candidate will be put to the test for a second time, Monday in British Columbia’s highest court. Two anti-poverty activists and a visually impaired woman who couldn’t find the proper ID to vote in the last federal election are appealing a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that found the current law only presents a “minor inconvenience” for most. The plaintiffs plan to argue against the 2010 judgment, which failed to agree the law is unconstitutional.

Canada: Are voter ID laws too onerous? British Columbia court readies to hear arguments | Montreal Gazette

A B.C. court will be asked this coming week to decide whether the right to vote trumps all concerns about voter fraud, or whether protecting the system means turning some people away from the polls. The government has taken note of the case that resurfaced in 2012 following a two-year-hiatus during which the three applicants had to find themselves a new legal team. A summary of the case was contained in a briefing note to Democratic Reform Minister Tim Uppal with departmental officials adding they would keep Uppal apprised of further developments. When the case is finally heard in the first week of February, the onus will be on the three applicants from British Columbia — Rose Henry, Clyde Wright and Helen Eddlestone — to prove that the trial judge erred in his evaluation of the evidence. The three unsuccessfully argued in 2010 that Bill C-31, passed in 2007, places barriers between some Canadians and their constitutional right to vote. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is also asking the court to side with the three applicants.

Canada: Edmonton city councillors wary of online voting | Edmonton Journal

City councillors are concerned Edmonton isn’t ready to move ahead with plans to introduce Internet voting in October’s civic election. Although staff have recommended allowing online ballots in advance polls next fall, members of executive committee questioned Monday whether the process is safe. “I’m not 100-per-cent confident in the security of the Internet and never have been, whether it’s my credit card information or my personal address or how I choose to vote,” Coun. Linda Sloan said. “Would that be something you want to put out there in cyberspace?”

Canada: Airdrie City council tables decision on Internet voting for 2013 election | Airdrie City View

Airdrie City council unanimously voted to table a decision on Internet voting, Jan. 21. The move was made after a presentation, by Sharon Pollyck, Airdrie’s manager of legislative services, and a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of Internet voting in the next election, set to take place this fall. “I am not ready to make a decision this evening,” said Alderman Glenda Alexander. “I look forward to more information.” Pollyck presented council with a number of options for electronic voting, which is being piloted this fall in Alberta and is used worldwide, including using the method only for the advanced vote, discontinuing paper voting all together and doing a mixture of the two.

Canada: Internet voting option proposed for Edmonton civic election | Edmonton Journal

Edmonton should allow Internet voting for advance and special ballots in next October’s civic election, a report released Thursday recommends. The proposal, following more than a year of study that included a test “jelly bean election” and the verdict of a citizen jury, would make Edmonton the first western Canadian city where candidates can be chosen online. “If people are able-bodied (and) they just can’t get out to vote on election day, they don’t qualify for the special ballot. How do they vote?” asked city clerk Alayne Sinclair. “We might open the doors for more people.”

Canada: Waterloo to look into online municipal election voting | therecord

The City of Waterloo will investigate using online and telephone voting for the 2014 municipal elections. Council went against the best informed person it had at the table and voted Monday to look into internet and telephone voting for the 2014 municipal election. The city will seek proposals from companies with voting technology, and wants the cities of Cambridge and Kitchener to consider using it as well. Coun. Jeff Henry grew up in Markham which has used internet voting for several years and also been part of University of Waterloo student elections where electronic voting was used. “My skepticism comes with knowledge,” Henry said.

Canada: The bar is high in Canadian vote-suppression case | The Globe and Mail

Make of this what you will: Faced with an unprecedented number of allegations of electoral fraud in the 2011 election – more than 1,400 complaints from more than 200 ridings – Elections Canada has responded by hiring not a single extra investigator to track down the culprits. The agency had nine investigators last year. It still has nine, spokesman John Enright confirmed, although it plans to add two entry-level investigators in coming months. It faces no budgetary restrictions for hiring in such a probe. It could employ 100 extra investigators if it wished.

Canada: Kitchener rejects internet voting | therecord

There will be no internet voting during the 2014 municipal elections here after city councillors received a report Monday that is critical of nearly every aspect of digital ballots. Randy Gosse, Kitchener’s director of legislated services, told city councillors the time will come when voters will use nothing but smart phones and computers to vote, but that time is definitely not now. “I think there are issues that need to be addressed before you get there,” Gosse said.

Canada: Online voting pros & cons | Daily Herald Tribune

Grande Prairie is on the right track in terms of online voting, but serious changes need to be made before the system can be effective, says the president of a leading-edge intelligent vote company. Dean Smith, president and founder of Intelivote Systems Inc., a Halifax-based worldwide leader in electronic vote systems, says the proposed process for online voting needs to be changed if city officials expect voters to use it.

Canada: Citizen jury will recommend online voting for municipal elections | Global Edmonton

A citizens jury has decided it will recommend the city adopt internet voting as an option for the next municipal election. The jury- who voted 17-1 in favour- says internet voting will make the process easy, simple and fast. The idea behind a citizens jury is that given enough time and information, ordinary people can make decisions about complex policy issues. While internet voting is already offered in over 60 municipalities in Ontario and Nova Scotia, there are some concerns over security, fraud, privacy, accuracy and accessibility- to name a few.

Canada: Liberal Leadership Online Voting Could Lead To Major Pwnage | Huffington Post

Just imagine: It’s April 2013 and the Liberal Party has gathered in Ottawa to hear that their new leader is… Chuck Norris. While that outcome may seem far-fetched, if the Liberals follow through with their plan to combine a new category of party membership with online voting, they may end up with an outcome just as ridiculous. The new “supporter” category was created at the Liberal Convention in January and is aimed at widening the base of participants for the leadership vote, making it more like a U.S.-style primary. Anyone interested in the party can sign up online and 30,000 people have already done so. If everything goes as planned, these supporters will vote for a new leader in exactly the same way as a full party member: in person or by mail, phone or internet. It’s the internet bit that’s interesting because, judging from the history of web, online votes have a tendency to go hilariously wrong.

Canada: Fate of Internet voting in Edmonton rests with citizen jury | Edmonton Journal

An 18-member citizen jury will decide this weekend if Edmonton should go ahead with a controversial proposal to allow Internet voting next fall. The jurors will hear presentations on security, software and other issues from almost a dozen expert witnesses before reaching a verdict in what organizers say is the first time this form of public involvement has been tried in Canada. “I think this process is groundbreaking,” city clerk Alayne Sinclair said Friday. “As a municipality, we have to think about how we can engage citizens better, how we can actually get them to be involved.”

Canada: Councillors want e-voting analyzed, question cost, length | Metro Canada

A rookie HRM councillor is calling for an end to online voting, but a couple of his vetrean colleagues would prefer to focus on how to make the system better. Coun. Waye Mason of District 7 told the CBC this week that since public turnout wasn’t any higher with a web system, the municipality should focus on traditional ballot boxes. “I’m not ready to say ‘let’s scrap’ the e-voting,” Distirct 8 Coun. Jennifer Watts told Metro on Thursday in response to Mason’s comments.

Canada: Security of e-voting questioned | The Chronicle Herald

At first blush, it appears electronic voting did little to conquer voter apathy in Halifax Regional Municipality. The 37 per cent total turnout in October matched that of the 2008 election. That plateau has prompted several councillors to call for a staff review to gauge how effective the $500,000 spent on telephone and online voting was compared to using paper ballots. Coun. Waye Mason questioned the system’s security and said he doesn’t think it should necessarily be used in 2016.

Canada: Turnout down slightly–hard to measure effect of e-voting in Nova Scotia election | Nova News Now

Turnout for Digby’s first electronic vote was down from 2008. In town, roughly 53 per cent or 786 of the 1467 eligible voters cast a ballot over the week-long voting period. In 2008, with the added interest of a race for mayor, 75 per cent or 933 people voted out of 1236 eligible voters. Information was not available by press time about the percentage of voters from 2004, the last time the town had mayoral election.

Canada: Halifax council candidate says electronic voting underway too soon | Metro News

Halifax regional council hopeful Waye Mason says opening up the polls two weeks before the election is too early because that’s when candidates are kicking their campaigns into high gear and election drama becomes most interesting. “That’s when you see the media giving candidates the most coverage, people as well as the candidates are engaging more,” said Mason, who’s running in District 7. “I just don’t know that people really know what decision they want to make yet.”

Canada: Election challenge clears another hurdle in Canadian Federal Court | CBC News

A group of Canadians challenging the election wins of seven Conservative MPs has scored a victory along the road to getting the main case heard in Federal Court. The court has ruled in favour of the challengers denying a motion by the Conservative Party to force them to put down hundreds of thousands of dollars as a security deposit. Nine people, backed by the Council of Canadians, are challenging the election wins of seven Conservative MPs. They argue fraudulent or abusive phone calls targeted those seven ridings in an attempt to discourage voters from casting ballots on May 2, 2011, and that the election results should be nullified.