New tech to make provincial election appearance

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This article was published 31/05/2023 (324 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Provincial election results are expected to be announced more quickly after polls close this fall, thanks to electronic vote counting.

Elections Manitoba is using the technology for the first time in the 2023 provincial election.

Instead of going into a regular ballot box, votes will be put through a counting machine at advance polling stations and on election day (expected Oct. 3). The machines could cut in half the time it takes to count, verify and report the election results.

Shipra Verma, chief electoral officer for the province of Manitoba, said it typically takes three or four hours to count the ballots, on average. This year, it is expecting the manual count to be wrapped up in one or two hours. Many of the ballots will be counted by machines.

“But it’s not going to be push of a button, and the results are not going to come instantaneously. We still have to maintain the checks and balances of the voting process,” Verma said.

Advance polls are becoming more popular, with about 25 per cent of voters choosing to cast their ballots in advance. However, election rules dictate counting can only begin after polls close on election night.

The technology is expected to make it easier for voters to vote anywhere in the province for advance polls or vote anywhere in their riding on election day, rather than showing up to an assigned polling station.

For the 2023 event, the technology is being rolled out at 50 per cent of the election-day polling stations and at 60 per cent of advance polls, which is expected to cover 95 per cent of advance voters and 85 per cent of election-day voters.

Verma said the machines can’t be rolled out everywhere at once because of cost. The technology is expected to cost $3 million to $4 million. The total cost of the 2023 election has been estimated at $20 million, Verma said.

Elections staff will be cut by about 10-15 per cent — an anticipated reduction of 700 to 1,100 workers. Only one worker, instead of two, will be at each voting station because there will be less paperwork, Verma said.

Similar vote-counting machines have been used in more than 200 municipalities, including in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson, and in provincial elections in other provinces.

Contingency plans are in place in case the technology malfunctions, and the voting process will be the same, Verma said.

There are expected to be a total of 900 polling stations across the province, 350 open for advance voting.

Voting stations will be placed in such a way no more than 50 Manitobans will have to travel more than 30 kilometres to cast a ballot, Verma said.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com