Open House Ranked Ballot Elections Manon L. Levesque City Clerk March 16, 2017

Open House Agenda Opening Remarks by Manon L. Levesque, City Clerk Description of how votes would be distributed to candidates by Carol Church, Municipal Advisor, Ministry of Municipal Affairs Estimate of the costs and alternative voting method by Manon L. Levesque, City Clerk Question Period

Public Engagement and Education The Ranked Ballot system is a fundamental departure from the voting experience of the average voter who is used to selecting a specific number of candidates for each office. A change to the Ranked Ballot approach may be confusing to experienced and new voters alike. A significant amount of time, effort and election funding would have to be put towards public education and resources to inform voters about this new system.

Public Engagement and Education Public Engagement and Education would be a key focus in order to avoid public confusion. Estimated Cost of Public Education Public Ads: 5 x Budget Estimate = Additional $28,080 Staffing: 3 x Budget Estimate = Additional $44,000 Communication: 3 x Postage for Printed Material = Additional $30,000

Staffing and Resources If Council directs Administration to pursue the option of a Ranked Ballot election, extra staff will need to be available during voting hours to provide instructions and answer questions to the voters. Estimated Voting Hours Staff 3 Extra Persons per General Voting Location ( 12 @ $250) = $3,000 1 Extra Person per Restricted Voting Location (14) = $3500.00

Voting Counting Equipment A vote tabulator is an electronic voting device that optically scans the ballots to read the marked paper and tally the results. The tabulator allows for the ballot to be immediately tabulated at the polling station notifying the voters of voting errors such as an overvoted race, invalid marks, blank ballots and unread ballots.

Voting Counting Equipment Once the voting has closed, the tabulated results are sent to a pre-programmed telephone number. The results are received within minutes. The City currently owns over thirty tabulators, however, this equipment does not have the capability of counting ranked ballots.

Voting Counting Equipment The equipment and software are available and new tabulators would need to be leased for the 2018 Municipal Election. Estimated Cost of Leasing Voting Counting Equipment 35 units = $90,180

Ballots The City would use a composite ballot for the position of Mayor and Councillors. Depending on the number of candidates for these offices, paper ballots may need to be larger, may need to have the front and back used or multiple ballots may be required.

Ballots The ballots using ranked voting will be significantly different than the ballots that voters are familiar with.

Ballots Because we may have up to thirty candidates for the Race of Councillor, it is possible that we may have multiple Ballots. Estimated Cost of Ballots Printing: Budget Estimate = 50% = Additional $4,745

Additional Cost Not Included It is difficult to predict some of the extra costs that will be incurred Additional Work Hours by City Clerk and Deputy Clerk (although not paid, could result in a significant of amount of converted hours) Additional Work Hours by Clerk’s Division Staff (overtime at 1 ½ % pursuant to Collective Agreement) Room Rental for Public Education Sessions Furniture for extra staff Stationery and Supplies

Estimated Cost of a Ranked Ballot Election Public Education Public Ads: 5 x Budget Estimate = Additional $28,080 Staffing: 3 x Budget Estimate = Additional $44,000 Communication: 3 x Postage for Printed Material = Additional $30,000 Voting Hours Staff 3 Extra Persons per General Voting Location ( 12 @ $250) = $3,000 1 Extra Person per Restricted Voting Location (14) = $3,500

Estimated Cost of a Ranked Ballot Election Leasing Voting Counting Equipment 35 units = $90,180 Cost of Ballots Printing: Budget Estimate + 50% = Additional $4,745 Election Budget 2018 =$160,000 Additional Cost for Ranked Ballot Election= $203,505 Total Cost of Election = $363,665

Question Period