Voters in Cambridge, Ont. are being urged not to wait until the last moment to cast a ballot online. Since 2014, the City of Cambridge has offered an online voting option. They say it’s a convenient way to get more people to cast a vote. “You can take your voter letter to work with you, you can vote while you’re on your lunch or on your break. You can do it from out of the country if you’re traveling for work, or if you vacation,” said Jen Shaw, Cambridge city clerk. This year the city is using a different online voting system to beef up voter security. “It used to be a one step process where you got your voter letter. It had a PIN and you just needed your PIN and your birthday in order to vote,” said Shaw. “To vote for this election, there’s an additional step where you have to enter your biometric data, so you need to upload like a driver’s license with a selfie of an image of yourself, and that’s to prevent voter fraud and to make sure you are who you say you are,” said Shaw. According to Shaw this system requires an authentication process that takes some time. “So that’s a step that comes through our team, we have to review each of those and then we approve them on our end before the voter is able to go through and cast their ballot.” Shaw encouraged voters to not wait until election day, Oct. 26, to begin the process. “If you plan to vote online, you need to leave yourself a bit of time to complete that registration and ID verification process first before you can actually go through and cast your ballot,” Shaw said. Shaw said they’ve had people contact the city due to issues understanding and completing the new process. Shaw said a team is working every day until the election to help people work through their issues. According to Shaw so far nearly 3,000 people have cast a ballot online and there is another 750 who have completed the registration, but have not yet voted. The City of Cambridge has posted a step-by-step guide online, including troubleshooting tips and frequently asked questions.
