Hundreds of voters have already hit advance polls for the municipal election.
At City Hall, the Clerk’s office did discover an online “irregularity” that was detected on the morning of Oct. 5.
The City Clerk’s office quickly acted and found that it was a program error that distributed ballots to McKellar ward voters for the Red River ward; meaning inadvertently 27 people who are registered in the McKellar ward voted for Red River Candidates
In a statement from the City, Clerk Krista Powers says “It is unfortunate that this irregularity occurred, and I understand that some may be frustrated or upset by this situation. I want to stress that the internet voting platform remains secure and encourages voters to continue to participate in the election either in person or via the internet voting option.”
For 27 misdirected ballots, they only represent 0.2 per cent of the received ballots; a total of 13, 332 voters in McKellar.
The City cannot determine if the 27 affected ballots in McKellar ward voted for the correct ward or not, accessing the voter’s card is not permitted.
Power went on to say that if “either the McKellar or Red River Ward races be decided by a margin of 27 votes or less, appropriate steps will be taken as per the Municipal Elections Act to determine the necessity for a by-election within these wards only.”
Advance polls continue next week, and election day is Oct. 24.
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