ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It would reportedly save money and decrease the risk of voter fraud, but St. John’s city council has opted not to revise legislation that would make registering for mail-in voting mandatory for future municipal elections.
Councillors agreed last week that given challenges many residents already face, requiring them to register for vote-by-mail (VBM) kits would only create another obstacle in getting people out to vote.
“One of the great things about the voter mail-in system is it is already a more accessible method of voting than the traditional polling stations for a lot of people,” said Councillor-at-large Maggie Burton, who noted registering would also create an administrative burden.
“And I wouldn’t want to add any real or perceived barriers to that.”
The vote-by-mail process has been in use by the city since 2001.
However, issues with mail-in ballots have been brought to council’s attention by staff over a period of time, including voter fraud, ballots being sent to former home residents or deceased people, and too many ballots sent to apartment and condo buildings.
After the October 2020 municipal byelection, in which Shawn Skinner was elected after Hope Jamieson's resignation three months previously, staff prepared a report that included statistical data, and information on voter turnout, costs and processes used in the byelection.
In the report, the Office of the City Clerk recommended council consider procedural reform in this area more in line with practices in other major Canadian cities, noting, “such reform is recommended to facilitate both democratic accessibility and enhanced efficiencies.”
“...such reform is recommended to facilitate both democratic accessibility and enhanced efficiencies.” — City of St. John's staff report
The city has taken some safeguards in ensuring ballot security — contracting a data-accuracy company to prepare the vote-by-mail kits and to manage the voter list, obtaining the permanent list of electors from Elections Newfoundland and Labrador via an information-sharing agreement, and consulting with Canada and the ATIPP office.
However, the report stated that mandatory registration for vote-by-mail kits would ensure kits are not sent unnecessarily to approximately half the population that traditionally does not vote.
Based on these numbers, according to the report, the vote-by-mail portion of the upcoming 2021 general election, set for September, is estimated to cost $279,720. If the city were to eliminate unsolicited mass mailing to all eligible electors — including the more than 40 per cent who typically do not vote — it would result in a minimum saving of $112,000.
Less work and resources are required to data cleanse the permanent list of electors, while accessibility of the election is still maintained, but in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, offering opportunities for electors to vote at home or at a polling booth as they see fit, the report stated, and it would also reduce costs to the environment by reducing the use of paper.
As well, the Office of the City Clerk surveyed 38 Canadian cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Of those, 15 provide vote-by-mail options. St. John’s is the only municipality within that group that provides mass mailing to all electors on the voters' list.
However, councillors were opposed to implementing it at this time.
“Given the vote-by-mail system has been in place for over 20 years, this would be a substantial change. It could really take a while for people to get used to registering. Given that you’d have to register every single time there was an election, I think there would always be opportunities for people to miss that period,” Burton said.
“I don’t think the real risk of ballot insecurity is high enough to justify adding a new perceived or real barrier to accessing a ballot. So, I don’t think the pros outweigh the cons at this time.”
Ward 3 Coun. Jamie Korab said he was initially in favour of having mail-in voters register, but reconsidered after some thought, and it would be best to wait and revisit it in the future.
“Right now, being in a pandemic … we need to give people, in September, every opportunity we can to vote. … But I think it’s something in 2025, whatever council may be here at that time, should look at bringing in then.”
Coun. Ian Froude said council should consider other ways to address issues with cleansing the mail-in voters' list.
“I know there are some concerns with the existing system,” he said, “but this is quite a substantial change and it’s not appropriate to do it in an election year. … It’s already hard enough to get people engaged in an election, especially in a time when there’s so much else people need to be keeping track of, with the stresses and uncertainties in people’s lives.”
