City Council To Consider Online Voting Monday

Sarnia City Council will consider online voting for the next municipal election at its meeting Monday afternoon. Council directed city staff to look into the alternate form of voting last November. Mayor Mike Bradley backs the idea as long as security issues are addressed. "We have cases almost daily in this country and around the world where the security of the internet is violated," says Bradley. "That is the last thing we'd want to happen to the most precious thing we have in a democratic society, a secret ballot." Bradley would like to see the public have its say before any decision is made. "It's their electoral system and I think council should stand this down for at least one meeting to allow the public to give their input on how they feel about this. They have the right to give their input before we move forward any further, and I think that can be done in a fairly quick turnaround time." Council has looked at internet voting in the past, ahead of municipal elections in 2010 and 2014. The city is one of seven municipalities in Lambton County looking to adopt online voting for the next civic election, on Monday, October 22, 2018.