A letter from Thunder Bay to Toronto.
City council voting 12-0 in favour of sending a letter stressing that municipalities should be consulted more in terms of proposing changes to the Municipal Election Act.
The letter will be addressed to:
- Premier Doug Ford
- Steve Clarke, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario
- Association of Municipalities of Ontario
- Big City Mayors Coalition (formerly LUMCO)
A pair of Bills are the focus, 204 and 218.
Bill 204 involves a review and recommendations and/or regulations that guide the application of alternate methods of voting
Bill 218 proposes to change the Municipal Elections Act:
- Removes the option for ranked ballots which were introduced for the 2018 Municipal Elections in Ontario
- Reverts nomination day (second Friday in September instead of fourth Friday in July)
- Changes the timeline for passing a bylaw authorizing the use of voting and vote-counting equipment or alternative voting method from May 1st the year before an election” to May 1st the year of an election
- Changes to the timeline for clerks to establish procedures and forms for voting and vote counting equipment and alternative voting methods from December 31 in the year before the year of the election to before June 1 in the year of the election
Power, in her motion to council, also notes Clerks across the province have been advocating for change in two areas relative to elections:
- Voters List (changes won’t be in place for 2022 but rather 2026)
- Regulations/Standards for alternate methods of voting (internet balloting)
