The township will stick with the traditional first-past-the-post voting system for the next municipal election in 2018.
Council made the decision after being presented with a staff report on Feb. 13 about provincial legislation that allows municipalities to consider using a ranked ballot system.
Bill 181 gives municipalities the option to pass a by-law authorizing the use of ranked ballots for electing municipal councils for the 2018 election. A bylaw authorizing the change would have to be passed by May 1.
In a ranked ballot election, voters rank candidates in order of preference (making a first, second, third choice, etc.) rather than voting for a single candidate.
The winning candidate must receive a majority of the votes; more than 50 per cent. If the 50% threshold is not met after the first count, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballots are redistributed to one of the remaining candidates according to the next highest choice marked on the ballot.
This process of eliminating and counting continues until a candidate achieves a majority. In the event that only two candidates remain, the candidate with the most votes is the winner.
The staff report notes that all Canadian municipalities currently use the “first-past-the- post” voting method.
“No government in Canada conducts ranked ballots, meaning there is no Canadian experience with respect to conducting ranked elections,” the report states.
The report also noted that school board elections must continue to be run using the traditional system.
“The way the school boards are, they have to stay with the regular type of election so we would have been holding two elections,” Mayor Neil Driscoll told the Wellington Advertiser in a Feb. 15 interview.
Driscoll said after viewing a video on the ranked ballot system he concluded, “It would be a nightmare.”
In addition to remaining harmonized with school board elections, township staff recommended continuing with the first-past-the-post method for several reasons, including:
– costs of implementing a new voting method; and
– concerns that current voting technology would not be able to facilitate a ranked election in 2018.
“Staff would highly recommend that we allow others to vet the technology and determine what works and what does not before smaller municipalities such as Mapleton attempt to initiate this new approach.”
The report points out all other Wellington County municipalities plan to continue with the first-past-the-post method in 2018.
The staff report also outlines other legislative changes, including a move to a shorter campaign period.
The nomination period has been reduced from 37 weeks to 13 weeks.
A candidate cannot campaign, raise or spend money until he/she has filed nomination papers.
Bill 181 makes May 1 the first day for filing nominations, with nominations closing on July 27.
Under the previous legislation, nomination papers could be filed on the first business day after Jan. 1 in an election year, with the second Friday in September the final day for filing.
Another change will require candidates for council (but not school boards) to obtain 25 endorsement signatures from eligible electors, which must be filed with nomination papers.
Council approved the staff recommendation to continue with the first-past-the-post method using vote-by-mail ballots and optical scanning vote tabulators.
