Whitehorse to use electronic counters in fall municipal election

An new information sharing agreement with Elections Canada will allow the city of Whitehorse to invest in an electronic vote counting system.

Corporate services director Robert Fendrick sayschanges to the way Whitehorse residents vote should increase voter turnout.

The city is planning to use an electronic ballot counting system in the municipalelection this fall.

"We did have some feedback that people wished a quicker system, especially in terms of results," Fendrick says.

"This particular system that we're looking at should reduce the counting time from four hours to less than an hour."

Electronic ballot counting caused delays in New Brunswick's provincial election in 2014, but Fendrick says the city is using a slightly different process to prevent similar issues here.

The agreement with Elections Canada will allow Whitehorse to use Canada's elector's list, saving the city from doing its own enunmeration, which Fendrick estimates would cost about $80,000.

Councillor Kirk Cameron supports the information sharing agreement, but says every eligible vote must be counted.

"We should not in any way reduce the capacity of individuals to come to the polls and be sworn in. I think we need to maintain that, no matter what," Cameron says.