Norfolk County staff are pleased with efforts that made voting in the October 2022 municipal election more accessible.
But there are ways to make voting even easier county staff say.
Online or internet voting, proxy voting, home visit voting and mail-in ballots are possibilities to be considered prior to the next municipal election in 2026,
“Internet voting has been advanced over the past few municipal elections and provides an opportunity to make elections more accessible,” Elizabeth Harrison, the county’s elections coordinator said in a report prepared for councilors. “Although this alternative voting option offers a more accessible manner for citizens to vote, there is a potential for technical problems.”
More investigation into internet voting will take place prior to the 2026 election, Harrison said.
Proxy voting allows votes to assign another individual to vote on their behalf. It gives those unable to leave their home due to illness or disability to vote.
Similarly, a home visit vote also benefits those who can’t leave their home. Under that system, an election work can visit a person’s home to vote following pre-registration.
However, home visit voting requires additional staff resources, pre-registration and possible health and safety concerns for elections officials, Harrison said.
A broad mail-in ballot process could benefit voters who are housebound as well as those who are outside the county during the voting period.
Harrison made the comments in a report presented to councilors at Tuesday’s council-in-committee meeting. Councilors voted to accept the report as information.
For the 2022 municipal election, the county’s election team took steps to ensure accessibility by ensuring parking for people with disabilities was available, entrance doors were wide enough to accommodate those with disabilities and had more voting locations available.
Harrison said the election team was made aware of issues at various voting locations and took steps to address them.
County officials purchased and installed a portable ramp for a Ward 2 advance poll voting location after recognizing the building was not fully accessible by wheelchair or scooter.
Furniture was moved, additional signage was put in place and the layout of a Ward 4 voting location was changed to address physical barriers in the building.
However, Harrison the election team was pleased with the overall success of the measures taken in 2022 to make voting as accessible as possible.
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