Report to Municipal Council Meeting Date: February 15, 2017 Decision Requested: No Direction Only: Yes Report Date: February 8, 2017 Priority: Medium Type of Meeting: Open Report Title: Elections Act Amendments - Ranked Ballots Background: The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of changes to the Municipal Elections Act introduced through Bill 181 The Municipal Modernization Act. On June 9, 2016, Bill 181, Municipal Elections Modernization Act, 2016, received Royal Assent, making significant changes affecting the 2018 Municipal Election. Analysis: Changes to the Municipal Elections Act are as follows: Election Calendar and Timelines: Change OLD legislation NEW legislation By-law Use of June 1, 2018 May 1, 2017 Alternative Voting Methods By-law Use Ranked N/A May 1, 2017 Ballots Clerk s Policies & June 1, 2018 December 31, 2017 Procedures for voting/alternative voting Approval of Ballot Question 180 days prior June 1, 2018 March 1, 2018 May 1, 2018 Approved by Council by-law Recount Policy N/A May 1, 2018 Use of Corporate Resources Policy N/A May 1, 2018-1 -
Opening of Nomination Period and 3 rd Party Advertiser Registration First day office is open in an election year May 1, 2018 Nomination Day 2 nd Friday in September Fourth Friday in July (July 27, 2018) Compilation of interim list of changes to the voter s list 10 days following Nomination Day Starts Sep 15, 2018 and ends Sep 25, 2018 Close of 3 rd Party Advertising Registrations Note: Election Day is October 22, 2018. N/A October 19, 2018 Ranked Ballot Voting: The most extensive change to the 2018 Municipal election process is the added option of a ranked ballot election. Traditionally, elections in Ontario have been run using the first past the post system, whereby the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected. For ranked ballot voting, in a ward single member election, instead of voting for a single candidate, you rank the list of candidates in order of your preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.). The first place votes are totaled and if a candidate receives 50% or more of the votes, they are declared the winner. However, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the first place votes, the contender with the fewest votes is dropped from the ballot and his or her supporters second choices are counted and added to vote totals for the applicable remaining candidates. This process continues until one candidate emerges with a majority. This helps to ensure that the winning candidate(s) receive support from a majority of voters more often. To implement a ranked ballot election, the following would apply in addition to passing the required by-law : Ranked ballots would be required to be used to elect all of the members of Council. The by-law may specify the maximum number of rankings that an elector may make and may provide a different number of maximum rankings for each office. If the by-law does not specify the maximum number of rankings, the default maximum is three (3). If ranked ballots are authorized for a regular election, ranked ballots must also be used in any by-elections that are held to fill council vacancies during the council term. Before passing a by-law, the Council of a lower tier municipality must hold at least one (1) open house to provide the public with information about how elections would be conducted, including a detailed description of vote counting; the estimated costs of conducting the election; any voting and - 2 -
vote-counting equipment that is being considered for use in the election; and any alternative voting method being considered for use in the election. A municipality must also hold a public meeting to allow the public to speak to Council about the proposed by-law. The public meeting must be held at least 15 days after the open house is held. Notice of both the open house and public meeting must be issued 30 days prior to each event. The bylaw must be passed no later than May 1 in the year before the year of the election (e.g. May 1, 2017 for the 2018 election). A considerable amount of time and election funding would have to be dedicated to public education and resources to inform voters about this new system, as ranked balloting could lead to public confusion and increase the number of spoiled ballots in the election. It could also affect the amount of time needed to prepare and test the voting system in advance of the election. A ranked ballot would look different than a composite ballot and may require a voter to use multiple ballots. In order to be transparent with voting results, the Clerk would have to report more detailed information in addition to the number of ballots used (declined/rejected ballots/first round results and subsequent rounds/exhausted ballots, etc.). The requirement for this additional detail could cause time delays in the reporting of elections results. Nomination Period and Process The nomination period has been reduced from 37 weeks to 13 weeks, with the opening of nominations occurring on May 1, 2018 and ending on the 4 th Friday in July (July 27, 2018). Candidates will be required to obtain 25 endorsement signatures from eligible electors, with the following stipulations: The 25 endorsement signatures must be provided at the time a candidate files his/her nomination paper. A person providing an endorsement must be eligible to vote for the office on the day that the person endorses the nomination. Individuals will be permitted to endorse more than one nominee. Endorsements will be in the form of a prescribed declaration (not defined yet); The nominee may file for a different office on the same council (withdrawing previous nomination) without pursuing further endorsement. The Act has also been amended to clearly indicate that a candidate is eligible to be nominated for an office in any ward of the municipality and not just the ward in which they reside. While this is not a change, given the number of inquiries the Ministry had received about this matter, the Act was amended to clarify that a candidate may run in a ward in which they do not live. - 3 -
Campaign Finance Corporations and trade unions are no longer eligible to contribute to municipal election campaigns; Candidates will be required to inform contributors of contribution limits; After the 2018 Election, campaign deficits will not be carried forward from previous campaign; A candidate will not have to open a bank account if they do not raise or spend money; A candidate may now resubmit a financial statement to correct an error up until the filing deadline; Clerk to release report naming candidates in default; Nomination fee now refunded only if Financial Statement is filed on time 30 day grace period for filing a Financial Statement and $500 late filing fee (no refund of Nomination Fee) Third Party Advertising A third party advertisement is a message in any medium (billboard, newspaper, radio, etc.) that supports or opposes a candidate OR a yes or no vote on a question on the ballot. Third party advertising does not include issues-based advertising so groups that do public outreach can continue their issue-based advocacy work throughout the municipal election period. Advertising that does not cost money to post or broadcast, such as comments made on social media, will not be considered to be third party advertising. Individuals, corporations and unions can register as third party advertisers and make contributions to third party advertisers. Third party advertisers will need to register with the municipality where they want to advertise. If they want to advertise in more than none municipality, they have to register in each municipality. Registration allows a third party advertiser to promote or oppose any candidate that the electors in the municipality can vote for (local council, school board trustee positions and regional or county council offices). Third party advertising must be done independently of candidates who are not able to direct a third party advertiser. Candidates are not able to register as third party advertiser. Rules for registration of third party advertisers, handling contributions, spending and contribution limits and financial reporting are similar to those for candidates. Corporations and trade unions will be permitted to make contributions to third party advertisers, but will not be permitted to make contributions to candidates. - 4 -
Clerk s Authority Changes to Municipal Election Act will provide greater administrative discretion and independence to the Clerk. The following matters, some of which previously required Council approval, will now be entirely under the discretion of the Clerk. Establish advance voting dates, locations and hours (by-law required in the past); Management of the voters list, including removal of deceased persons, additions of new electors and amendments to existing electors, as well as, the method by which additions, amendments and deletions are completed; Determine whether electronic filing of financial statements will be permitted and any conditions or lists associated; Review financial statements and identify and report on contributions made to candidates and third party registrants in excess of established limits and refer report to Compliance Audit Committee. Election Signs and Advertising An election campaign advertisement will be defined as an advertisement in any broadcast, print, electronic or other medium that has the purpose of promoting or supporting the election of a candidate; Candidates must now include language on their signs/in their ads to make clear who is responsible for the messaging; Broadcasters and publishers will be prohibited from causing an election campaign advertisement to appear if the candidate s name, as well last he name, business address and telephone number of the individual who deals with the broadcaster or publisher hasn t been provided. Broadcaster must retain this information for four (4) years). Tenants in apartments/condo etc. now have the right to display campaign signs, subject to the condo corporation s/landlord s right to limit size, etc. Municipalities will have the authority to remove advertisement or discontinue advertising if contraventions of the provisions occur. Recounts Additional reporting information about Election Results is required with ranked ballots. Section 28 of the Regulation provides: As soon as possible after voting day, the clerk shall make the following information about the election for an office available to the public on a website or in another electronic format: 1. The number of ballots cast. 2. The number of ballots that were declined. 3. The number of ballots in which the votes for the office were rejected. 4. The threshold calculated under section 19 for the office. - 5 -
5. The number of votes cast for each candidate at the first round of vote counting. 6. The results of each round of vote counting, including the number of votes received by each continuing candidate for the round and the number of exhausted ballots. Accessibility Plan and Reporting Clerks will be required to prepare accessibility plans to identify, remove and prevent barriers that could affect voters and candidates with disabilities. The plan must be available to the public before voting day. The Clerk s Report to Council after voting day about the identification, removal and prevention of barriers (not a new requirement) must also be made available to the public. Budget Implications: Increased administrative costs are anticipated based on the following: Paper ballot production costs will be substantially increased based on the size and number of ballot faces requires for each voter, as well as, in anticipation of more spoiled ballots and replacements needed; Additional staff will be needed to support research, planning and implementation ranked voting with new processes and audit procedures; Extensive public education will be needed to inform and assist voters and this will require additional staff, as well as promotional materials and communication Additional Election Officials will be needed to assist voters who are unclear on the new voting method and to ensure wait times are not increased; Additional training will be required on all Election Officials to ensure that they are knowledgeable on ranked balloting and can assist voters. Sources: AMCTO, MMAH Next Steps: Reports and draft by-laws to be provided to Council regarding the use of Ranked Ballots and Alternative Voting Methods @ the March and April meetings of Council. Prepared by: Joanne MacNeill, Acting Clerk Approved by: David King, Interim CAO - 6 -