The municipal election in Richmond County this October will be decided using paper ballots despite the objection of one councillor.
During last night’s regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council in Arichat, District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon voted against a motion to use paper ballots, claiming that the municipality is “missing the boat” in not employing electronic voting.
While turn-out was around 70 per cent in the 2020 election, Diggdon said that number could go up using electronic voting, which could attract more young voters and offer more convenience for those unable to vote at the advance polls on October 12 and on election day.
District 5 Councillor Melanie Sampson said she supports a paper ballot-only election because of the cost and the traditionally high voter-turn-out in the municipality. She said a hybrid model of paper ballots and electronic voting has a “substantial cost.”
District 5 Councillor Brent Sampson said estimates run between $15,000 and $20,000 to conduct electronic voting and he would be more supportive of other voting options if the municipality had a lower voter turn-out.
Chief Administrative Officer Troy MacCulloch said the Association of Municipal Administrators of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities are considering different voting methods for municipalities that get only 30-40 per cent of voters out to the polls.
For those who will not be in the municipality for the advance poll or on election day, Deputy Warden Shawn Samson said proxy votes are available. He said spending $20,000 to get voter turn-out up to 77 per cent is not good value for taxpayers.
Council also approved motions to have the CAO select the returning officer, put the CAO in charge of fees and expenses for election workers, and to use the voter list from the last provincial election as the basis for the municipality’s list of electors.