B.C. election fiasco proves the need for online voting
What we witnessed last week in British Columbia was nothing short of an embarrassment. In 2017, how is it possible that it took 15 days — more than two weeks — to accurately understand who won the May 9 provincial election.
Finally, on Wednesday, the ballot recount came to an anticlimactic end. The lengthy process produced a razor-thin Liberal minority government. The Liberals took 43 seats, the NDP 41and the Greens three — the same result as on election night.
The recount of 17,000 absentee ballots left B.C. voters holding their collective breath as they watched live updates that showed the riding of Courtenay-Comox flipping between the two main parties.
British Columbians, and people across the country, were asking who would be the next premier, and how, in 2017, it could possibly be taking so long to find out.
Under B.C. election law, absentee ballots are not counted until the 13th day after the initial count, so that the ballots can be transported to each district. But, we live in a technologically advanced society. Amazon can deliver packages to my front door in Toronto the same day. I can be at a meeting in Vancouver tomorrow morning and return home for dinner with my family that same evening; something that seems to be lost on those who run our elections.
And yet, this whole painful process is likely not over yet. Because the voting was so close, there will likely be a judicial recount, extending this process by another few weeks.
Like the original recount, this process is both convoluted and inefficient.
The application for a judicial recount must be submitted six days after the results have been declared. The courts then must set the date for that recount 72 hours after the filing, which can occur no later than eight days after that.
Then, an appeal is allowed within two days of the judicial recount, with results determined within a further 10 days.
The result: British Columbians may have to wait another month before knowing who will lead them in government. So, what can we learn from this? Surely the time has come to finally introduce online and electronic voting in Canadian elections.
Estonians have been able to vote online in their national elections since 2007. Brazilians vote using electronic terminals, cutting the time it takes to count ballots from a month to six hours.
In some local British elections, people can vote by text message.
In Canada? Online voting is available in some Ontario and Nova Scotia municipalities, but it has never been offered at the provincial or federal level.
Canadians confidently and consistently bank, file their taxes and correspond with their doctors online. There is no reason why they would feel uncomfortable adding voting responsibilities to this growing list.
In fact, data collected by EKOS Research in November 2016 found 77 per cent of Canadians say they would probably vote online, should the technology be available.
The current federal government, in response to the previous government’s disastrous and widely criticized Fair Elections Act, has introduced legislation to make it easier to vote. However, this legislation, which predictably is stalled, does not go far enough.
A government truly committed to increasing civic participation would adopt an online voting strategy. Electronic voting will make the voting process easier and more accessible for voters. It will boost voter turnout.
It would drive voter participation among young people, increase privacy for populations of electors with disabilities, and, over the long term, have the potential to be significantly less expensive and produce faster and more accurate election results.
Like anything, of course, there are risks. The most cited risks relate to security, including threats of computer viruses or the influence of dangerous hackers. These are indeed significant issues, as are privacy issues, potential voter fraud, lack of access to technology and the need for voter education.
But it is 2017, after all. And these are the same issues we have overcome in many other parts of our daily lives.
Let’s use the embarrassing failures of the British Columbia recounts as a way to start a discussion around electronic voting in this country.
Better still, let’s use this experience to move beyond discussion to real, meaningful action.
Canada will be better for it.