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.
“Do we really want to configure a system that allows people to vote in their pajamas?” She said. “Voting is a public act of civic engagement.”
Mayor Stephen Mandel said he was concerned more about the chance for people being pressured to vote a certain way or a “zealot” gathering personal information of apathetic voters to influence the issue.
Mandel said the challenge of voting on election day is not enough to warrant the risks of online voting. “I think people should vote at the ballot boxes and we have lot of times, he said.
Full Article: Edmonton city councillors reject online voting | Metro.