June 28, 1999
To:Administration Committee
From:City Clerk
Subject:Cost sharing by Elections Ontario and Elections Canada of the City of Toronto's Purchase of Vote Tabulators
and Touch Screen Voting Units
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to respond to a request by the Administration Committee on the possibility of Elections
Ontario and Elections Canada cost sharing the purchase of the City of Toronto's vote tabulators and touch screen voting
units.
Financial Impact:
None
Recommendations:
It is recommended that this report be received for information.
Council Background/Reference/History:
The Administration Committee, at its meeting of June 15th, had before it for consideration a joint report on the results of
the Request for Proposal No. 3412-99-01464, the acquisition of 2,000 optical scan vote tabulators and 100 touch screen
voting units.
The Administration Committee:
"(1)deferred consideration of the following joint report until its meeting scheduled to be held on July 13, 1999; and
(2)requested the appropriate staff to report to the aforementioned meeting of the Committee on the possibility of some
type of cost sharing with Elections Ontario and Elections Canada.
Comments and/or Justification:
Elections Ontario has never used vote counting equipment in the conduct of a provincial election. The provincial election
ballot is a simple one, contains only one "office" (so each ballot only has to be counted once) and a limited number of
candidates. (Compare this with the City of Toronto's ballot which has three offices, many more candidates and the
potential of questions on the ballot.) With the very small size of the provincial polling subdivisions (350 to 400 electors),
counting the ballots by hand at the close of voting generally takes fifteen minutes. Unofficial results on the basis of this
count, are available for the media within thirty minutes.
The Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 1998 (Bill 36) received Royal Assent on June 26, 1998. Among other
provisions, the Election Act now permits the Chief Election Officer to direct the use of voting equipment, vote-counting
equipment or alternative voting methods during a by-election if an agreement authorizing their use has been reached. The
agreement must have the support of the Chief Election Officer and all official provincial political parties (at least 12
members in the Assembly).
If voting equipment is used in a by-election, the Chief Election Officer shall report back to the Speaker of the Assembly on
the use of the voting equipment and make recommendations on amending the Election Act to provide for the use of voting
equipment on a permanent basis.
When contacted, Warren Bailie, Chief Election Officer, stated Elections Ontario is not in a position at this time to make a
commitment on a cost sharing arrangement with the City of Toronto on the purchase of vote counting equipment. Until
Elections Ontario has an opportunity to test the use of equipment in a by-election, it does not know whether it would be
feasible for it to use equipment on an on-going basis.
Elections Canada has never used voting equipment in the conduct of a federal election. Like the provincial ballot, the
federal ballot is not complex, requiring little time to count by hand. Unofficial results are available quickly due to the small
size of the polling subdivisions (average of 400 electors).
Elections Canada conducted a feasibility study on the implications of utilizing voting technology in the federal electoral
process. The final report (dated June 15, 1998) was tabled with the Standing Committee on Procedures and House Affairs.
To date, the Committee has not yet considered the report.
When contacted, Denis Lamoureux of Elections Canada indicated the use of vote counting equipment in federal elections
is not a priority for them at this time. It is interesting to note that Bill C-83, which was introduced into the House of
Commons on June 7, 1999, contains no mention of vote counting equipment. This Bill proposes to repeal and replace the
Canada Elections Act to "modify the federal electoral process to make it more accessible, fair and transparent".
Conclusion:
At this time there is no interest at either Elections Ontario or Elections Canada to cost share the purchase of vote counting
equipment with the City of Toronto. Federal election legislation does not permit the use of equipment and Ontario's
provincial election legislation currently only permits equipment to be used in by-elections.
However, should either of these jurisdictions choose in the future to use vote counting equipment, the City of Toronto
could contract with the jurisdiction to rent the City's equipment.
Contact Name:
John Hollins, Director of Elections, City Clerk's Division
Telephone No. 392-8019E-mail: jhollins@city.north-york.on.ca
Novina Wong
City Clerk
