Paper is passé
There won’t be any paper ballots in Middleton when eligible residents go to vote in municipal elections in October.
In fact, voters don’t even have to leave their homes. Starting Oct. 6 they can vote via computer, smartphone, or tablet as long as they can connect to the Internet. And people can use their touchtone phones or smartphones to call a toll- free number to vote as well.
Middleton’s returning officer Krista Toole said the town has gone to electronic voting that she describes as convenient, cost-effective, and accessible – and there won’t be any spoiled ballots.
The actual election day is Oct. 15, but residents can start voting Oct. 6. Ordinarily there would be several advanced polls, but because people will have access to voting 24/ 7 from that date until election day, those polls are not needed. She said the nature of the new system will give people more opportunity to vote.
Toole said there will be a computer voting station set up at town hall starting on Oct. 6 and on election day there will be one at the fire hall next door.
The process
The key to electronic voting is a PIN that will be included with a mailout to eligible voters. She said residents should receive those three to five days prior to the first voting day.
The returning officer said the system does not track how a particular PIN has voted – only that that PIN has been used to cast a vote. And it can’t be used again. But if a voter loses or misplaces a PIN the Voter Help Line can be deactivated and a new one issued.
Toole said voting instructions will be included in the voter letter mailed to each person on the official voters list. It includes instructions on how to access the voting system – both computer or touch-tone phone. Internet voters simply go to the website listed in the mailed information and enter the voting system to cast their votes.
In Middleton’s case, there are six council seats and nine candidates so voters will vote for six of the 9. There is also a two- way race for mayor. Middleton residents won’t be voting for an Annapolis Valley Regional School Board member because when nominations closed only one person had offered – Gerald Burrell – who was acclaimed.
Flexible
Toole said the electronic voting system is somewhat flexible in that voters can, for example, vote for a mayoral candidate in one session, leave the voter page and come back at another time to complete voting for council seats.
The returning officer doesn’t believe senior residents will