Thunder Bay considers move to online ballots

Thunder Bay residents could be turning to their telephones and computers to vote in next years municipal election.

City council is being asked toconsiderwhether allowing for online voting during the advanced polling period would make the electoral process more accessible and convenient for people who cant use the conventional ballot box. Those people includestudents attending school out of town, residents away on business, the disabled, or property owners who dont live in Thunder Bay but having voting rights in the city.

"Theyre... denied their opportunity to vote because of their physical location," said John Hannam, Thunder Bays city clerk.

Hannam, who proposed the changes,has been pushing forthe alternatemethod of votingfor several years.It was rejected by council in 2010, after the proposalcame too close to the Elections Act deadline.

Question of security

Hannam said hes not worried about security breaches when it comes to online voting.

"People that say they're opposed to internet voting make a lot of claims as to what they think are the weaknesses of these systems," Hannam said.

"You can look at the hundreds of examples where internet voting has been used around the world, and not one system has been breached yet."

Online voting systems are tested and structured to prevent the system from going down during a power failure, a hacking attempt, or fraud, Hannam said in his proposal to council.

Thunder Bays use of online ballots wouldnt be unprecedented in the province in 2006 nearly two dozen Ontario municipalities allowed online voting, a number Hannam said he expects to quadruple by next years election.