Yes, we may have it wrong!

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In her editorial “Do we have it all wrong?” in the October 6 edition, Allyson Beauregard suggested there are some problems with the way municipal elections are run. Smaller municipalities elect councillors-at-large, by seat, which has some problems.

In her editorial “Do we have it all wrong?” in the October 6 edition, Allyson Beauregard suggested there are some problems with the way municipal elections are run. Smaller municipalities elect councillors-at-large, by seat, which has some problems.
Allyson gave some examples of potential problems. In addition to these, there’s another very significant issue. Consider a town council with six seats. If there are fewer than 12 contestants at election time, at least one councillor will be elected by acclimation, not on merit. Also, it’s possible there will be no contestant for a particular seat.
An immediate alternative is a list of all candidates from which a voter is asked to select up to six. This would place all candidates on the same level. However, in practice, there have been problems with this single-list system. Some voters may consider the ballot as allowing only one candidate to be selected. Other voters may cross off the candidates they do not want. Other voters may simply select the first six names on the ballot, thinking that selecting six names is too complicated a process. Also, counting and auditing the returns is more time consuming and error prone than a ballot that allows only one name to be selected.
One possible solution would be to use a computer system with appropriate software to record and tabulate the results. Such a system could check the accuracy of the voter’s selection and immediately request a correction to any irregularity before the vote is accepted.
Beyond the technical issues of the actual ballot is the more significant issue of exercising and protecting a fundamental aspect of our democracy. Too many citizens don’t recognize the importance and relevance of municipal elections. We tend to ascribe all decisions to the federal or provincial governments and fail to recognise the role of municipal governments. We need better communication from contestants at municipal election time. Perhaps each contestant could be given a small financial allowance to allow them to get their message across to the voters.
Whatever solution is selected for municipal elections, it’s important that citizens engage with the issues and vote!

Peter J. Gauthier
SHAWVILLE