Skip to content

Council’s ‘show of hands’ voting may disappear

Elliot Lake city staff are proposing the use of a system that will allow councillors to vote electronically, not displaying an individual councillor’s vote
2024-03-12-councilchoosesoptionone
Councillors vote for the method to be used, to fill the council vacancy. Mar. 11 2024

Item 7.6 of Monday's agenda package includes a memo from the Deputy Clerk and Accessibility Coordinator, describing an electronic voting system that will allow councillors to vote on their tablet at the council table instead of raising their hand.

The system will display the vote count for the public, but it doesn’t identify how the individual elected representative votes.

The recommended voting functionality is already within the software the city uses. The staff report says, “Going forward there will be a few changes coming for efficiency purposes for Council and Staff.”

Another change described in the report advises that all the items being considered for a closed-session discussion will be handled with one vote. Presently, the council votes on each closed-session item separately.

“Staff ask that Council and the public bear with us, while we navigate these new-to-us, escribe tools. We look forward to these exciting changes and are happy to answer any questions.”

Residents who wish to address any item on the agenda must register with the Clerk before noon of the meeting day, at [email protected] 



Comments


Stephen Calverley

About the Author: Stephen Calverley

Stephen loves the outdoors and municipal life. He writes to inform readers and encourage citizen participation.
Read more