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Home My WebLink AboutCRPS-05-171 - 2006 Election Proposed Changes - Advance Voting, Voting Day Locations and Staffing Report To: Date of Meeting: Submitted By: Prepared By: Ward(s) Involved: Date of Report: Report No.: Subject: ~ Councillor B. Vrbanovic, Chair and Members of the Finance & Corporate Services Committee November 21, 2005 G. Sosnoski, General Manager, Corporate Services/City Clerk R. Gosse, Director of Legislated Services All November 10, 2005 CRPS-05-171 2006 MUNICIPAL ELECTION - PROPOSED CHANGES RE: ADVANCE VOTING / VOTING DAY LOCATIONS / STAFFING RECOMMENDATION: For information only. BACKGROUND: The Municipal Elections Act requires a municipality to establish one or more dates for advance voting and traditionally the City has held 4 advance votes in City Hall for all Wards. The Act also requires the Clerk to establish voting places considered most convenient to the electors. For the 2006 Municipal Election, changes are planned with respect to where the advance voting will take place; the staffing structure at the polls; and the number of voting places on voting day. REPORT: Advance Votina The City of Kitchener has typically held the advance vote on 4 dates in City Hall for all Wards and has never held advance voting outside of City Hall. In reviewing the results of the past 3 elections and in particular the advance vote, the following conclusions were made: · the total advance votes cast represented less than 1 % of the total eligible electors; · there is a correlation between advance voter turnout and the distance of each Ward to City Hall; o the downtown Wards (Wards 1 & 5) consistently had the higher turnout, whereas the lowest turnout came from Wards located furthest from City Hall (Wards 4 & 3); · with the exception of Ward 1, this correlation is not reflected in the overall voter turnout. In order to make it more convenient for all electors regardless of the Ward they reside in and in an attempt to increase voter turnout at the advance vote, in 2006 there will be 3 advance votes in each of the 6 Wards and a fourth advance vote at Fairview Park Mall for all 6 Wards. The 3 advance votes in each of the 6 Wards will be held in community centres. In selecting the centres, several factors were considered, including: location in context of the Ward; size of available space; and accessibility. The goal is to make it more convenient for the elector to cast their vote at an advance vote and in turn, increase voter turnout. It should be noted that although an advance vote has traditionally been looked upon as a means to allow an elector to cast a vote if they will not be available on voting day, any eligible elector may cast their vote at an advance vote. The tentative dates for the 3 advance votes are: Wednesday, November 1; Thursday, November 2; and, Saturday, November 4. The advance voting day at Fairview Park Mall is actually the first day of voting and is tentatively set for Saturday, October 28. Specifically, the voting place will be set-up in the centre court area allowing any eligible elector, regardless of their Ward, to cast their vote. The Mall voting place is not a new concept. The Cities of Oshawa, Barrie and London have all held advance voting in malls for at least the past 2 municipal elections. In fact, in 2003 the City of London held all advance voting in 6 different malls throughout their City, resulting in a significant increase in votes cast at an advance vote. In 2006, the Cities of Waterloo and Cambridge are also planning to hold at least one advance vote at a Mall. Pursuant to the Municipal Elections Act, the dates and times for all advance voting will require a by-law to be adopted by Council. The final dates and times will be finalized in 2006 and subsequently, there'll be a report submitted to Council. Staffina Chanaes at the Poll Traditionally voting places have been staffed with: · an Election Assistant who provides direction to voters; · a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) who determines eligibility of a voter and/or takes steps to add the voter to the voters' list or make revisions to the voter's information; then provides the appropriate ballot to the voter and on receipt of the completed ballot, place it into the ballot box; · a Poll Clerk who assists the DRO by striking the name of the voter off the voters' list. In reviewing this structure staff have found that the Election Assistant's duties have changed and secondly, line-ups in voting place are often caused when voters must be added to the voters' list which ties up the DRO leaving the Poll Clerk under-utilized. In 2006, the duties of voting place staff will change by: · reducing the number of Election Assistants by assigning an assistant only at voting places with more than 2 polls; and, · changing the duties of the Poll Clerk by having them add voters to the voters' list or make revisions to the voter's information; and by having them receive the completed ballot and place it into the ballot box. The intent is to reduce the amount of time an elector needs to spend in the voting place and to allow the DRO to concentrate on providing quick and efficient service to the elector. No longer will those electors already on the voters' list and ready to vote, have to wait while a new elector is added and/or revisions are made to another elector's voter information. Similarly, those who need to be added or require revisions to their information will be able to do so more efficiently and will not hold back electors who are ready to vote. Votina Places on Votina Dav In 2003, the City had approximately 90 voting places located in schools, churches, community centres and nursing/retirement homes. Many of these voting places would have more than 1 voting poll and in some cases, up to 5 polls. Voting results from the past 3 elections show a trend toward poor turnout of those electors living in multi-residential buildings. The Municipal Elections Act provides that any large building with more than 100 residential units must provide space, at no cost, to accommodate a voting place. In 2006, increased use of large residential units for voting places is planned, much like the Federal and Provincial elections, with the intent to make voting more convenient and in turn, increase voter turnout. It is anticipated that this will increase the number of voting places from 90 to 105-110. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Advance Vote In 2003, the cost of holding the advance vote in City Hall for all 6 Wards was approximately $2,000. (in today's dollar). The planned changes to hold advance voting at Fairview Park Mall and in each of the 6 Wards will increase that cost to approximately $9,000., which includes rental and set-up costs for the Mall. This cost is included in the proposed 2006 Election budget that Council has yet to approve. A post election analysis will be performed to determine if the results warrant the additional cost in future elections. Additional Votina Places The planned change in how voting places will be staffed, especially the reduction of Election Assistants, will reduce the overall costs of staffing which will off-set any increased costs due to additional voting places. COMMUNICATIONS: The planned changes will require a more aggressive approach with respect to communications. It is planned to have additional notices of the advance voting locations published in Your Kitchener newsletter and publication in neighbourhood association newsletters will also be pursued. The 3 cities in the Region will make every effort to co-ordinate advance voting in order to have joint messaging published in The Record. In addition, preliminary discussions with Fairview Park Mall administration may lead to joint promotion of the advance vote through a 'Vote 'n Shop' program that could involve all 3 cities. R. Gosse - Director of Legislated Services