Tabulators to flag problem ballots in Saint John East byelection

Residents casting protest votes in the Saint John East byelection can expect to be flagged by beeping tabulators and approached by poll workers like they were in September, Elections New Brunswick has confirmed.

Chief Electoral Officer Mike Quinn says despite all five provincial political parties expressing concern about the practice infringing on voters' right to cast a secret ballot, the tabulators inability to read certain valid votes, requires a check of all suspect ballots with the voter.

We should get rid of the voting machines and use pieces of paper and pencils. Let's use the system that's worked well for hundreds of years- NDP Leader Dominic Cardy

"The whole reason for this alert feature is to prevent that," said Quinn of tabulators not counting valid votes that are marked too small or faintly for the machine to read.

"All of the practice and all of the court cases are in line with enfranchising the voter and making sure his vote counts."

Saint John East candidate and NDP Leader Dominic Cardy says he is concerned Elections New Brunswick is sacrificing important voting principles to accommodate the tabulators' shortcomings.

"You don't want to see elections distorted to suit the technology and that's what I'm concerned about," said Cardy. "I think we should get rid of the voting machines and use pieces of paper and pencils. Let's use the system that's worked well for hundreds of years."

'Beefed up training'

In 2007, election officials in the Ontario city of Vaughan programmed tabulators in the municipal election to accept all ballots without an alarm. The machines registered 1,656 rejected ballots, but in a subsequent re-count, a judge found 96 of those — about one in 17 — were valid votes the machines failed to read properly.

That puts election officials using tabulators in a quandry. Turning the tabulator alarm off means some valid votes will not be counted, while turning it on publicly exposes people who have spoiled their ballots on purpose.

Quinn says it is more important that all valid votes be counted, so jurisdictions that use tabulators generally opt to have them alert poll workers when it cannot read a ballot.  

Elections New Brunswick acknowledges not all voters casting spoiled ballots in the general election were dealt with discreetly enough and has retrained those working in the Saint John East byelection to silently hand voters who have triggered the tabulator alarm a printed card explaining what has happened and offering the chance to revote.

"I think that in some of the cases ... that procedure wasn't done and we've beefed up the training on that point," said Quinn.

Cardy says the problem is caused by the tabulators and the solution is to get rid of them. 

A long-term solution on how to deal with the issue is scheduled to be worked out among Elections New Brunswick and the five registered political parties next year.