Municipalities blast province over Bill 20 and its ban on electronic vote tabulators
Municipalities are warning that the Alberta government's plan to ban electronic vote tabulators will force them to incur millions in costs that they will likely have to pass on to local taxpayers, despite there being no apparent issues with the vote-counting machines.
The province's Bill 20 — the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 — was tabled in the legislature last Thursday.
It has drawn criticism for imposing political parties on local elections despite little support for the idea. It also establishes new powers for cabinet that allow it to unilaterally remove councillors and compel councils to amend or repeal bylaws, with the rationale for any such decisions being guarded by the secrecy of cabinet confidentiality.
The bill also sets out the province's intent to ban automated voting equipment, including electronic tabulators, ahead of municipal elections in October 2025.
“Eliminating the use of electronic tabulators will give confidence to Albertans that their votes are being counted correctly, and bolster their trust in the methods and results of local elections,” Municipal Affairs Minister Ric Mciver said to reporters last week.
He said he was not aware of any issues with the integrity of the machines in Alberta or Canada, but insisted he had heard concerns from Albertans.
“I've never called (the machines') integrity into question, but you know what, if you talk to Albertans, you will find a number of them that don't have faith in machines counting ballots,” he said.
When asked Thursday if he thought those concerns were valid he responded, “I don't care.”
“I trust that some people don't trust them,” he said. “It overrides any concerns about convenience.”
Speaking the day after the bill was introduced, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said switching back to hand-counted votes will cost the city “tons of money.”
“Our electronic tabulation system has worked really well and no one has raised any concerns with it.” He added that reverting to hand-counting “is going to cost millions of dollars” that will come at the expense of local taxpayers.
Edmonton Elections uses voting tabulators to record votes. It states devices are tested before, during and after use, and are secured by physical and digital security keys.
The provincial election last May used tabulators to count advance ballots to help facilitate Elections Alberta's “vote anywhere” option. Ballots cast on election day were hand-counted.
Alberta government staff said the number of municipalities that used electronic vote counters in the October 2021 municipal elections is unknown, though the machines are also used in Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge, among others.