Bedford-Sackville candidates weigh in on timing, advantages of e-voting pilot

Electronic voting may make it easier for residents to cast their ballots during next month's municipal election, but some candidates are concerned that allowing e-voting two weeks before election day will negatively impact their campaigns.

Lower Sackville municipal candidate Bruce DeVenne was first alerted to the two-week lag time between the Oct. 18 municipal election date and the Oct. 4 e-voting start date when he attended an information session at City Hall earlier this month.

His biggest concern is that because e-voting takes place so much earlier, non-incumbents like himself only have half the time to campaign in their districts. DeVenne has since sent e-mails to all non-incumbents running in the municipal election to make sure they're also aware of the issue.

"This is definitely in favour of the incumbents because we the non-incumbents have to get out and see everybody. Some people have no name recognition," he said. "It's not fair to the new faces or to the voters because they can't meet everybody. This is made all the worse because of the federal election, which means the local election isn't getting half the press."

DeVenne has expressed his concerns to officials at the municipal returning office. He hopes the e-voting process will be moved closer to the actual date or dropped altogether.

"I have no problem with e-voting, but when it takes place elsewhere it seems to be with the advance polls or a day or two or even a few hours before the actual voting date," he said. "Theoretically the election could be over and we'll still be knocking on doors for two weeks. To me that is a realistic consequence."

Several of the local candidates contacted by The Weekly News last week shared DeVenne's concerns. District 19 candidate Tim Hosford said although he enthusiastically supports e-voting, he also questions the two-week time lag.

District 2 candidate Barry Dalrymple also supports e-voting, but believes it was a "poorly thought out decision" to hold it so early.

"Tying it into the pre-election votes from the 11th to the 14th or having it on election day would have made more sense," Dalrymple said. "This cuts two full weeks into our time, meaning there will be hundreds if not thousands of people we will not have seen yet. You depend on the last two of three weeks for the majority of your walking."

Bedford candidate Matthew Christie understands the concerns over the e-voting date, although he considers himself fortunate to have participated in the Bedford byelection five months ago.

"I was able to connect with voters then, so I'm not starting from a complete stand still. Although it's not as much of an issue for me, I recognize the impact it could have elsewhere in HRM," Christie said.

"Two weeks is a huge amount of time to accomplish connecting with voters. The amount of doors you could knock on in two weeks would be critical to connect with as many people as you could."

At least two of the four candidates running in District 23 don't have any issues with the Oct. 4 e-vote starting date.

"In my district, we're all in the same boat. We're all new, so it's fair to everybody," said candidate Deborah Brunt. "I don't see a problem with it. I think people would be better off spending time working on their campaigns."

Gina Byrne is also running in District 23. She said she has attended every council meeting for the last year and was aware of the e-voting issue and the anticipated dates. In addition, she knew many months ago she was going to run and planned accordingly.

"When the federal election was announced, it put a kink into the municipal elections so any chance we have to get a higher voter turnout, I'm all for it," Byrne said.

HRM returning officer Linda Grant said although she's aware of the concerns raised by DeVenne, the e-voting date doesn't cut two weeks off campaigning. She said candidates can begin knocking on doors long before the nomination deadline, and advance polls are open just four days after e-voting ends.

"E-voting ends Oct. 6, which is four days (before) the first advance poll.We need that preparation time to put together the voters list," Grant explained. "We're working with one voters list all the way through. After e-voting, the voters who went that route are crossed off. Then the advance poll voters are crossed off."

Grant said the e-voting process was never kept a secret.

"I've been at this for four years," she said. "It has been to council, it has been in the newspaper, to the committee of the whole, and has been open to discussion and to the public that this was going to be an option for residents of HRM during this election."

Voter notification letters with voting instructions will be mailed on Sept. 29.

E-voting starts at 8 a.m. on Oct. 4 and closes at 8 p.m. Oct. 6. For more information on e-voting, visit halifax.ca/election or contact the election office at 490-8683.

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca