Norwich Township Clerk Explains Errors with Mail-In Voting System

Tuesday, 11 October 2022 at 05:13

By Marcie Culbert

Multiple Norwich residents have taken to social media to say they have received ballots in the mail for people who haven't lived with them for several years.

NORWICH - As we get closer to municipal election day, some voters in Norwich Township have expressed concerns over the mail-in voting system.

Norwich Township Council decided to go with the mail-in voting system back in the summer of 2021. Township Clerk Kyle Kruger says the voting method for an election must be determined at least a year in advance to make sure all of the necessary policies and supplier contracts are in effect. He says Council opted for mail-in voting due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time the decision was made. He adds Council decided to choose the mail-in voting option because it has been a reliable voting method for decades, while online voting is still new.

Kruger says the ballot kits were mailed out to Norwich residents on Thursday, September 29th, but there was a bit of a delivery delay due to Canada Post having Friday September 30^th off for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

After receiving their ballot kits in the mail, multiple Norwich residents have taken to social media to say they have received ballots in the mail for people who haven't lived with them for several years. Others have expressed concerns about not receiving their ballot kits yet.

Kruger says the municipal voters list comes from MPAC and it's not always 100 percent accurate.

"When you move to a remote voting system, certainly the reliance on the voters list becomes perhaps more pronounced or certainly visible. We certainly don't dispute that the voters list itself as produced currently through MPAC has had shortcomings for decades. This is something clerks have expressed concerns about over the years on an ongoing basis. But it's no different this year than previous elections where there are shortcomings."

Kruger says this has happened before with previous elections, and it's a simple solution.

"There will be folks who are not on the voters list or may have incorrect or incomplete mailing addresses. So it is certainly possible and we've seen it happen to a certain degree that ballot kits may end up being mailed to the wrong households. The process there is relatively simple, the Municipal Elections Act makes it an offense to use a ballot that's not directed to you. So, if somebody receives a ballot that's not addressed properly, the best thing is to contact the Township Office to let us know about the error. We do ask people to either return those ballots to the Township Office or destroy them so they are not used."

Kruger says the Township is currently in the process of mailing out the ballots that may have been corrected. He says Thursday, October 13^th is the deadline for people to send their ballots back through the mail, adding it's the last day Canada Post guarantees they will be received by election day. Residents can also drop their ballots at the Township Office right up until election day on Monday, October 24th.