After investigating changes to the Municipal Elections Act regarding ranked ballot elections at the direction of council, Chatham-Kent municipal clerk Judy Smith recommended staying with the existing first-past-the-post election model for the 2018 election.
Smith, in a presentation to council recently that included a somewhat confusing video of how ranked balloting works, explained that the legislated changes don’t allow for the method to be used just for mayoral ballots. The voting process for all of council must be included if it is used.
“It’s all or none,” Smith explained to council. “There is a concern with cost increases and confusion for the public. Educating the public on this method is an issue.”
The clerk added that in looking at other municipalities, ranked ballot elections have not been implemented in any municipal, provincial or federal elections in Canada.
After watching the video and reading the presentation from Smith, council agreed the ranked ballot method would be too confusing and passed a motion unanimously to keep the current first-past-the-post method for 2018.
