Toronto’s government has cancelled a plan to allow disabled residents to vote online and by phone in the 2014 election, saying there is not enough time to build and test the system. Council only approved the online and phone voting in February, a month into the campaign period. The city clerk said she had the authority to call off the project “to protect the integrity of the election” if key deadlines were not met. She did so this month. “The clerk engaged independent third-party experts, including an accessibility and usability expert, two security and cryptographic experts, an external auditing firm and a testing firm,” city officials wrote in a report to council. “There is insufficient time for the third-party experts to conduct a full assessment of the security and accessibility of the (system) before the start of Internet and telephone voting registration on September 8, 2014.”
Council approved the cancellation in a 29-1 vote — but gave preliminary authorization for online and phone voting by all voters, disabled and non-disabled, in future elections, “as the city clerk deems appropriate.” The city will present an implementation proposal in August.
The city said it could not immediately explain the financial ramifications of the cancellation.
The city budgeted $914,343 to pay the firm it hired to provide the system, Scytl Canada, plus a further $290,100 for “third-party testers.” The report noted that only $60,000 has been spent, solely on the testers, but a spokeswoman said she did not know if Scytl is also owed money or whether the change of plans will cost the city extra.
Full Article: Toronto cancels plan to allow online, phone voting for disabled citizens in 2014 | Toronto Star.