LaSalle council will be discussing what voting methods they’d like to use in the 2026 municipal election.
A report will go forward to council on Tuesday evening, with a recommendation from administration to authorize internet voting only, and to remove telephone voting as an option.
Councils must adopt bylaws of voting and voting equipment prior to May 1, 2026.
While there is still ample time before then, council is being asked to select a voting method now to ensure the town can procure a vendor with the necessary equipment.
LaSalle offered internet and telephone voting in both the 2018 and 2022 municipal election. In 2018, just shy of 1,200 people, or approximately 12 per cent, of all votes casted came from phone voting, and that number declined in 2022 where only 422 people voted by phone - approximately 5.5 per cent of all votes casted.
During both years, the town received a number of concerns and complaints regarding telephone voting, such as it was difficult to navigate, it wasn’t user friendly, and voters were overwhelmed as they couldn’t see their ballot.
LaSalle mayor Crystal Meloche says administration is recommending getting rid of the telephone voting.
“After some research they were able to come back and tell us that we’ve had success with internet voting, however we’ve had some issues with the telephone voting. So since there’s been issues, and we’ve seen a very large decline in the amount of people who use the telephone voting method, we’ve decided to do away with that this time - well, at least that’s what’s being recommended.”
She says like in past elections, a Voter Help Centre will be set up at Town Hall.
“We realized that for some people, online voting isn’t easy or they don’t have the ability to do it at home. So we also set up a help centre at the town for people to come in and use computers at the town to be able to vote, and there’s someone there who would walk them through the process to assist them, so that we can be sure that it’s as fair to everyone.”
According to Meloche, the town heard many concerns regarding the phone voting.
“People found it very challenging to work through the telephone system, and the way that it was organized, and unfortunately that’s not something that we have any control over,” she said. “And so, when we look at this and decide what’s best to move forward, with the online voting you can sit there and have a laptop, and it kind of assists them through, with the telephone you really can’t.”
The next municipal election is to be held on Oct. 26, 2026.
In 2022, 231 municipalities offered online voting, representing 56 per cent of all Ontario municipalities.
There is currently approximately $149,000 set aside for the municipal election. This amount is expected to be sufficient to conduct an electronic election.
Council will meet on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
— Meagan Delaurier/AM800 News
