Mayor unplugs real-time electronic voting system

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This article was published 13/02/2024 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A real-time electronic voting system once touted as a way to boost transparency at city hall has been put out of use permanently.

In September 2020, the executive policy committee began to use the new e-voting system, which displayed the results of each decision on live-stream video of EPC meetings and on screens within the city council chamber.

However, EPC has not used the system for several months due to technical glitches. Mayor Scott Gillingham said it won’t be brought back.

“We had a series of meetings, several in a row, where the system wasn’t working and it became, frankly, cumbersome. If I was concerned that we were losing transparency, I would insist that we maintain it. (But) I’m confident that we are transparent, the members of the public… will know how each councillor and I voted at EPC on every item,” said Gillingham.

Former mayor Brian Bowman was a champion of the e-voting system, arguing it created a real-time visual display of council members’ votes that helped citizens hold elected officials accountable.

However, electronic voting was not expanded to city council meetings after the majority of council voted against it.

Critics argued traditional votes that rely on council members to call out “yea” or “nay” are easier for some citizens to follow during a meeting than posted text results, especially for those who don’t use smartphones or computers or whose first language is not English.

In 2021, council did vote to ensure every council member’s votes are recorded and publicly shared on the city’s website.

Gillingham said he feels confident the resulting system is sufficient.

“The way we vote is transparent. It’s a matter of public record, which way every councillor and I on EPC vote,” he said. “That information is available. It’s a transparent process.”

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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