Halifax’s next municipal election is scheduled for 2028 and it could be the first one to fully do away with paper ballots, leaving residents with only phones or computers to cast their votes. The executive standing committee is recommending Halifax council direct that voting can only be done by a telephone or personal computing device in the 2028 election. They also recommend the mayor pen a letter to the provincial government to request legislative changes allowing the establishment of mobile polling locations for qualifying facilities licensed under the Homes for Special Care Act during the advanced voting period. Council will vote on the motion at their Tuesday meeting. According to a report submitted to council, the Halifax budget committee directed the chief administrative officer to finalize the 2026-2027 budget with a $200,000 annual reduction in the contribution to the election reserve by eliminating paper-based voting. The study on cutting paper ballots found 96 per cent of voters used electronic methods in the 2024 Nova Scotia municipal elections. Twenty-seven per cent used paper or hybrid methods. In Halifax, 123,529 total votes were cast, 69 per cent of which were done electronically. “Electronic voting is now the primary voting method used by electors, accounting for most ballots cast,” the study says. “Maintaining parallel paper-based processes requires the municipality to scale election operations to support the least used voting channel, resulting in disproportionate resourcing demands, additional manual handling of ballots and increased operational risk.” Halifax has offered a hybrid voting model since it introduced electronic options in the 2008 election. At the time, 28 per cent of voters used the electronic method. The study notes the combination of paper and electronic voting has been resource intensive, essentially requiring staff to administer two elections at once. In-person paper voting required 124 polling locations, 1,300 temporary election workers and 100 additional support staff. According to the study, a single-stream electronic voting method would cut election staffing requirements by roughly 70 per cent. The study found the hybrid voting model costs $3.9 million while the electronic method would cost $3.1 million. Halifax councillor Shawn Cleary says more and more people are choosing electronic voting options. He adds, if removing paper ballots doesn’t impact voter turnout and undermine the democratic process, a move that could bring costs savings should be examined more closely. “My primary objective is the health of our democracy,” said Cleary. “I want people engaged. I want people to vote. Given the fact that more and more people are voting electronically, and it, hasn’t hurt the turnout rate, it’s important for us to then say, ‘OK, if the democratic function is working are cost savings possible?” According to the staff report, eliminating paper ballots would bring an estimated cost savings of $450,000 next election but it’s important to emphasize abandoning paper ballots doesn’t mean HRM will do away with polling stations. “And if they want to show up on Election Day at a polling station, that can still be accomplished electronically,” said Cleary. With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jesse Thomas For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
