Essex council to consider move to online voting for 2026 municipal election

Town of Essex sign in Essex, Ont., on Friday, April 5, 2024. (Rich Garton/CTV News Windsor)

Essex council will debate a report from administration Monday night, being asked to consider moving to online voting for the 2026 municipal election.

Staff is recommending to move forward with one of two options.

The first option includes online only voting with voter information centres set up for assistance, or the second option of hybrid online, which includes in-person voting, however residents would cast their ballots using electronic devices at the polling stations.

Mayor Sherry Bondy said she’s hearing from residents who want accessible elections, but there are other residents who are concerned over change.

“Overwhelmingly, majority of people want that physical ballot in the box, they don’t want to vote online, they actually want to have the ballot,” said Bondy.

“There’s a lot of questions about where does your vote go online, can anybody hack it, what happens if the internet goes down. There’s comments about AI, and I think there’s still a lot of mistrust out there going to Internet voting.”

Bondy said the cost for internet voting is reduced.

“There are less staff resources, and obviously, less paper resources, so it is cheaper for municipalities. Still waiting to hear all the details on exactly how cheaper it is. That’ll be something that we can talk about more on Monday,” she said.

The 2022 election was held with in-person voting only. The reported stated there was a 41.1 per cent turnout with 7,032 ballots cast from the 17,111 eligible.

Bondy encouraged residents to read the report and share their thoughts with council.

“At this point, I’m undecided. I’m still collecting information. I’ve always been a fan of in-person paper ballots, so I still need some convincing to want to go Internet,” Bondy said.

The next municipal election will take place on Oct. 26, 2026.