More than 200 Ontario communities have scrapped in-person ballot boxes. What will that mean for voter turnout?

Municipal election day is quickly approaching in Ontario, and this year many communities are turning to tech-only voting methods, with 217 municipal governments across the province are not holding in-person ballot boxes in favour of either online voting, phone voting or a combination of both methods.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says there will be 417 municipal elections held in the province on Oct. 24, and more than half — 217 — have decided to use online or phone voting. That's up from 175 municipalities four years ago.

In Thunder Bay, officials say things are going well, despite an early online ballot error that gave 27 voters the wrong ballot. By Wednesday evening, about 75 per cent of the 10,600 people who'd registered their ballot in Thunder Bay had done so online, city election officials said. 

Having multiple voting formats is something that author and political engagement expert Dave Meslin believes can increase participation, but only if it's done in an inclusive and accessible way.

"If you want to appeal to a large audience you have to offer your service in different formats to reach a larger audience and make sure that everyone is as comfortable as possible," said Meslin, who is also a senior associate of democratic innovation with Armstrong Strategy Group.

"If you're running an election you definitely want to make sure that if someone wants to vote online, they can. But if for whatever reason, they either aren't comfortable voting online for security issues … or they just like the old fashioned tradition of standing in line at a ballot box, you definitely want to provide that as well," he explained.

Last year, The Armstrong Strategy group published the 2021 Ontario Municipal Democracy Index, which measured the political health of Ontario's 32 largest municipalities based on the last election period in 2018.

Part of the index measure looks at the ways municipalities are trying to make local government more inclusive, such as the number of voting options on offer. 

According to the index, Thunder Bay was the only city in Ontario to offer three methods of voting in 2018. The city also had the highest voter turnout in the province during the election that year with more than 50 percent of the population casting a ballot.

The provincial voter turnout average in 2018 was around 38 percent, according to the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO). Most municipalities scored zero points in the index study when it came to the voting options in 2018, because they only offer one method.

While online platforms can be a much more accessible option for many, Meslin said municipalities should offer at least two to three voting options. He said municipalities should also be aware of the groups of people that can be disadvantaged by tech-only voting options.

Meslin pointed to people who may not have strong tech literacy, or simply don't trust an online voting system, including vulnerable people who do not have stable housing. 

"Say you didn't have a fixed address, no one is going to be mailing you your pin number, right? So it's really important that there's a physical place that you can just go and say, I want to vote, this is who I am, here's my ID," he said. 

Sally Colquhoun, the coordinator of legal services at Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic, is also concerned about how online-only options can affect vulnerable people.