Officials to observe N.B.'s municipal election voting technology
Last Updated: Friday, May 9, 2008 | 5:56 PM AT
CBC News
Electoral officials from across North America will be observing New Brunswick's municipal elections on Monday as the province introduces technology that moves toward electronic voter lists.
"There has been a lot of interest in some of the new procedures we are using in this election," said Mike Quinn, the province's chief electoral officer.
Paper voter lists will still be used as backup during the election.
"This gives us a streamlined voting process and the flexibility to offer ballot-on-demand at returning offices," Quinn said.
There will be 229 new tabulation machines used on election night and after the ballots are inserted into the box, they will be scanned and counted.
"Instead of waiting for the traditional manual count, these machines will silently and secretly be counting ballots throughout the day as people vote," Quinn said.
When the polls then close in the evening, election officials will be able to quickly retrieve the counted results, he said.
All the machines have been tested for their logic and accuracy and Elections New Brunswick is confident that the results will be accurate, Quinn said.
'Removing barriers'
The new system was used during advance polling.
Election agencies from across Canada, including Canada's chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, and representatives from jurisdictions in the United States, will be observing how the technology works, Quinn said.
The observers are also interested in the measures the province is taking to address accessibility for disabled voters, said Richard Balasko, chief electoral officer for Manitoba.
"We've been hearing a lot about the different projects that Elections New Brunswick is piloting, which are aimed at removing barriers to voters," Balasko said. "Important improvements to electoral administration often result from observing the best practices of other jurisdictions."
Elections New Brunswick is offering a new machine for visually impaired voters that provides an audio voting system.
People with motor disabilities will also be able to use a "sip and puff" that allows them to take a special tube into their mouths and select a candidate by blowing through it.
Sign-language interpreters will also be available in several voting regions, Quinn said.
It is hoped that the increased flexibility of the system will mean a higher voter turnout, he said.
