HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-07-032 - Voter Turnout Survey - Establishing a Committeel
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Corporate Services
REPORT
Report To: Mayor C. Zehr and Members of Council
Date of Meeting: February 26, 2007
Submitted By: R. Gosse, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk
Prepared By: R. Gosse
wards} Involved: n/a
Date of Report: February 16, 2007
Report No.: CRPS-07-032
Subject: VOTER TURNOUT SUVEY -ESTABLISHING A
COMMITTEE
RECOMMENDATION:
That Environics Research Group be retained at their quoted price of $23,500 plus GST, to
undertake a survey and analysis on Voter Turnout as outlined in their proposal dated January
30, 2007; and,
That the cost of the survey and any other ancillary costs for the this project be paid from the
elections reserve; and further,
That a Committee consisting of: 2 Councillors, the City Clerk, the Director of Communications, 3
non-elected candidates from the 2006 elections and, 3 citizens at large be established to review
the findings from Environics Research Group on the voter turnout survey and analysis.
BACKGROUND:
On November 27, 2006, Council passed a resolution directing staff to obtain the services of a
polling consultant to survey residents on why they did or did not vote at the 2006 municipal
elections and to solicit ideas to improve the voting process. In addition the resolution also called
for the establishment of a committee to study the results of the survey and other findings in
order to make recommendations on improvements to the voting process, by June 30, 2007.
REPORT:
Survey
Quarry Integrated Communications, Environics Research Group and PMG Consulting, three
polling/research companies were contacted for proposals and quotes to undertake a survey with
the following objectives:
1. To gather information on the municipal voting habits of Kitchener voters with a specific focus
on the November 2006 municipal election.
2. To identify reasons why Kitchener voters do and do not vote in municipal elections.
3. To evaluate the City of Kitchener's current municipal voting process from a voter's
perspective.
All three companies submitted proposals which were evaluated for methodology, deliverables,
and costs.
Quarry provided three options: 1 }researching currently available publications including studies
from other municipalities and provide a summary of the findings; 2} conduct a Quantitative
Study by telephone survey; and, 3} conduct interviews with representatives from all wards and
across all demographics. The company recommended either options 1 or 3 or both but did not
recommend option 2. Their reasoning for not going with option 2 is based on their research
experience which questions the appropriateness of using this type of approach for this type of
research. Quarry contends that someone apathetic about voting will also be apathetic about
responding to a survey and/or they may be reluctant to admit they don't vote.
Environics provided a 2 phase methodology; phase 1 would be a 24 question (7-8 minutes}
telephone survey of approximately 600 citizens in order to obtain a good response to the
objectives of the survey. Phase 2 will be a geo-demographic and social values analysis to
identify the lifestyle characteristics of voters and non-voters. This analysis would be similar to
the work undertaken by Environics for the City during the Who Are You Kitchener program.
PMG proposed a 2 step approach: 1) conduct 2 focus groups which will assist in developing
questions for the larger telephone survey and possibly provide insight into any underlying issues
with respect to voting; and, 2} conduct a 12-15 minute telephone survey of 600 residents.
Of the three proposals the one from Environics Research Group is recommended. This decision
was based on the following: their proposal would meet the objectives, the cost was the lowest of
the 3 proposals; and, the information gathered through this survey would add to the knowledge
base developed from the Who Are You Kitchener and Compass Kitchener surveys. It should be
noted that Option 1 from Quarry was the lowest cost option but it wasn't considered as the
information would not directly relate to Kitchener voters.
The Committee
Upon completion of the survey and when the findings/analysis are submitted from Environics, a
Committee is to review the findings along with any other materialldata on the 2006 elections.
The Committee would make recommendations for the 2010 elections based on their review. It
should be noted that under the Municipal Elections Act, the election process is the responsibility
of the Clerk and it is important that Council not interfere nor be perceived as interfering with that
process. As such, recommendations from the Committee that are within the purview of the Act,
can only be recommended to the Clerk. All other recommendations not falling under the Act will
be made to Council for consideration.
It is proposed that the Committee have 9 members as follows: 2 Councillors, the City Clerk, the
Director of Communications, 3non-elected candidates from the 2006 elections and, 3 citizens at
large. It is anticipated that the findings from Environics will be submitted by May 1, 2007
therefore advertisements for citizens at large will be posted and solicitation letters sent out to
candidates during the month of March. Once applications are received they will be presented to
Council for appointment and at that time, the Council appointments can also be made.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The cost for Environics to undertake the survey and provide the final analysis is $23,500 plus
GST. At the time Council adopted the motion to move forward with this initiative, there was no
set budget. As of year-end 2006, there was a surplus of over $40,000 in the election budget and
in light of this initiative and its relationship to elections, $30,000 has been rolled over into the
election reserve to pay for the voter survey.
R. Gosse - Director of Legislated Services