Do better next election, please

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2023 (953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Trust in the electoral process is the foundation of any democracy. When the system of ballot counting and results reporting breaks down or falters in any way, no matter how slightly, confidence can quickly erode.

Elections Manitoba was besieged by technical problems and human error during the recent provincial election. Storm-related power outages on election day in some parts of the province forced election staff to count ballots manually, more than was planned for.

Problems with laptop computers and printers caused delays. Learning curves with new technology, including the introduction of electronic ballot counting machines, led to human error on a scale not seen in recent memory.

A firewall used to guard against unauthorized network access failed on election night, resulting in the interruption of Election Manitoba’s live results on its web page.

These were not just a few technical glitches. By Canadian electoral standards, the system breakdown bordered on disastrous.

Fortunately, the integrity of the election results remained intact. There is no reason to believe the accuracy of the official results was compromised in any way, even though ballot counts in some electoral districts differed significantly from the unofficial results reported on election night.

Those discrepancies did not change the outcome in any riding. However, the impact could have been far worse had the election been closer. There would have rightfully been howls of protest had the official results turned a minority government into a majority one, or vice versa. One can only imagine the allegations of a “rigged” election if the official tally altered who won government.

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the problems that dogged Elections Manitoba was the reluctance of the agency’s head, chief electoral officer Shipra Verma, to immediately address them publicly. It took Ms. Verma 10 days to speak publicly, despite earlier attempts by the Free Press to contact her for an interview.

Verma says she did not want to immediately answer questions about what went wrong on election day because she did not have all the answers. That’s a cop-out. Manitobans were not demanding all the answers right away. They did, however, deserve a preliminary update on what went wrong and an assurance that the integrity of the results was not compromised.

Failure to address those issues quickly and without reservation gave the appearance that election officials had something to hide. There is no evidence Elections Manitoba was concealing anything. However, such delays can fuel speculation and create fertile ground for the conspiracy-minded to spread disinformation about the integrity of the electoral process.

Elections Manitoba is reviewing what went wrong on election night. Its findings will be included in a post-election report required by law that will be submitted to the legislative assembly. Those findings will be reviewed by a legislative committee where additional questions will likely be raised at a public meeting.

Elections Manitoba was not as prepared as it should have been to manage the new technology it adopted, nor did it have effective contingency plans in place to respond to predictable disruptions, such as power outages. It appears some election workers may not have received adequate training. The agency’s communications protocol on election night and in the days that followed was deficient.

Manitobans can be assured that a fair and open election took place. The integrity of the results is not in doubt. However, Elections Manitoba has lost some measure of public trust. It must regain that trust through a transparent and comprehensive review and by taking concrete steps to avoid a similar system breakdown in the future.