MODERNIZE VOTING
On a list of things we take for granted, the right to vote is at the very top.
Canadians, including residents of Saskatchewan, have been turning their backs on the ballot box for decades now. Only about 50 per cent of eligible voters now turn out for elections, down from a high of almost 80 per cent in 1982. This is a trend seen across the nation.
Elections Saskatchewan, under the guidance of chief electoral officer Michael Boda, released a new report on the need to tackle this issue, and modernize how we choose our elected representatives. As Boda points out in the report, “Overall … electoral events in Canada continue to be conducted using methods that have been in place since Confederation.”
Government must work with Boda and the rest of the Elections Saskatchewan team on modernizing the language of Saskatchewan’s Election Act, 1996. As the year in the title suggests, much has changed since it was created. The language needs to be less prescriptive and allow officials the flexibility to adopt new methods as they become available — without the necessity of a change in law.
Talk of modernization and computerization of the voting process may alarm some who have been hearing about meddling in elections. It should be pointed out, however, that this discussion has been about people spreading false news and trying to influence voters — not the actual casting of ballots. Although officials have become very good at controlling corruption around paper ballots, history has shown us that stuffing ballot boxes is not impossible.
There are privacy concerns surrounding an old-fashioned, paper-heavy approach to voting, and Canadians have come to expect certain protections for their personal information.
Boda and his team are not alone in calling for change. After the last federal election, Canada’s chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, expressed frustration over long lineups at advance polling stations due to the bureaucracy around casting a ballot.
“It is a process that is entirely manual, rigid and slow,” he told the Globe and Mail, adding the system must keep the changing needs of families and workers in mind.
Mayrand is calling for actions like bar codes on voter cards and a pilot project to test online voting for people with mobility issues.
Speaking of elections, the government has yet to respond fully to a report from Boda on the timing of when voters cast ballots in the province. This is a matter that must be settled quickly for Elections Saskatchewan to properly prepare for the vote.
The province, and the nation, need to move into the future on this issue.