Quebec's chief electoral officer gave a vigorous "nay" to electronic voting in future municipal elections yesterday, in a report dissecting last autumn's problem-plagued electronic vote in 140 cities and towns.
Not only did the glitches that delayed results and gave conflicting vote counts in the Nov. 6 elections in Montreal and elsewhere erode the confidence of many voters, the high-tech elections wound up costing as much as 25 per cent more than regular voting, chief electoral officer Marcel Blanchet said in his report.
The report, tabled in the National Assembly, criticizes everything from the voting machines, which were provided by three suppliers and made by different manufacturers, to the personnel who handled them and the training they received.
The manner in which these systems were managed "does not offer sufficient guarantees of transparency and security to ensure the integrity of the vote," he said in a statement.
At a news conference in Quebec City, Blanchet conceded he cannot assure the election results were accurate.
But, he added, there's nothing that can be done about it, so Quebecers should learn from the fiasco and move on.
The message was echoed by Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau, who ruled out holding a new round of elections.
Instead, the moratorium her government slapped on the computerized voting systems after Nov.
6 will remain in place, she said. And Quebec might never use electronic voting for provincial elections, she suggested - unless it's proved reliable.
The report's findings, gathered during the past 11 months by investigators and experts, led Blanchet to recommend "very stringent conditions" for the use of electronic voting.
Machines misread ballots.
A backup plan covering all possible problems was missing.
The lack of paper ballots in some municipalities prevented judicial recounts.
Only partial testing of the voting machines took place in some instances.
But there will be no charges laid, Blanchet said.
"On that, it would take proof from somewhere that there was, in effect, an illegal act, that things got screwed up," he said.
"There is no proof."
Montreal's official opposition party, Vision Montreal, said it will hold an emergency meeting of the party executive today to discuss recourse, including renewing a call for a city-wide recount.
"It's not over, contrary to what Mr.
Blanchet says," Vision Montreal general director Robert Laramee said.
On Vision Montreal's complaints, Blanchet's investigators agreed, for instance, that:
Some parties' representatives were denied access to polling stations because they were not adequately informed by city election staff about procedures.
Election personnel did not receive adequate training.
Some polling stations closed earlier than required by law.
Mayor Gerald Tremblay's office said his administration will comment on the report today.
Jacqueline Leduc, Montreal's city clerk and chief returning officer in 2005, left the city's employ on Monday.
Her five-year contract ran out and was not renewed, city hall spokesperson Darren Becker said.
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