Mayor Jeff Genung shakes his head over the province's decision to stick by its guns to require municipal election ballots to be hand-counted.
A survey of Alberta's mid-sized cities indicates it will cost an average of $108,000 more to conduct the 2025 fall election, says Genung, who is chair of the Alberta Mid-Sized Cities Mayors' Caucus. In Cochrane, it's estimated to increase costs by $40,000.
"It's a step backward," says Genung. "The technology is there, and its ability to tabulate election results in a timely manner in a controlled environment has been proven over the years. I don't understand the move. We put enormous pressure on Minister McIver and the provincial government and shared our dissatisfaction with this move and that it's unwarranted but fell on deaf ears. It's very disappointing."
McIver says no financial compensation will be provided to municipalities switching back to a hand count, although some consideration will be given to those who have ongoing contracts for tabulators or have already made financial commitments.
"The municipalities are responsible for paying for the cost of municipal elections," says McIver. "That's been the case for 100 years and will not change."
He says a recent poll indicates about a third of Albertans don't trust electronically tabulated election results. While not agreeing with that view, McIver says it's important for all Albertans to have faith in the election results and doesn't want people disrespecting their local municipal council because they think that they weren't legitimately elected.
"It's about confidence in the results of the election. We think that's worth something. We think that taxpayers actually benefit from people having confidence in the results of the election."
McIver says only about 10 per cent of Alberta municipalities use tabulators.
On Oct. 18, McIver announced the regulations have been developed for changes made to the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) and the Municipal Government Act (MGA) by Bill 20. For the most part, the regulations will come into effect Oct. 31.
He says the changes are designed to add greater transparency to local election processes and require further accountability from local councils and elected officials.
New expense limits have been established for local election campaigns and rules have been created for local political parties in Calgary and Edmonton.
The Danielle Smith government has reintroduced provisions for campaign contributions by corporations and unions. something that was banned by the Notley government.