In the 2026 municipal election, voters in Grey Highlands will cast their ballots using the internet.
At its meeting on Dec. 4, Grey Highlands council voted in favour of internet-only voting for the election to come in the fall of 2026.
The decision came after considerable discussion and was not unanimous. Clerk Amanda Fines-VanAlstine brought a report to council outlining the options for how to vote in the 2026 election.
Options included:
- Internet voting
- Voting by mail
- Telephone voting
- Voting in person with paper ballots
- A combination of two or more of the various options
For the 2022 election, the municipality used a combination of internet and in-person paper ballots for the election. Staff told council in the previous election approximately 80 per cent of ballots were cast online and 20 per cent were cast via in-person paper ballots.
Council narrowly approved the move to internet-only voting in a 4-3 vote with Mayor Paul McQueen, Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen and Coun. Dan Wickens opposed. Staff had recommended a combination of telephone and internet voting, however council voted to eliminate the telephone aspect of that option.
During the discussion about the voting method, Fines-VanAlstine had to caution council about diving too deep into the issue. The clerk said council’s lone decision on the 2026 election is to choose the voting method, after that decision is made, staff are responsible for running and conducting the election.
Council’s biggest concern during the discussion on the matter was to ensure there would still be places for local residents to vote in person - even if they were voting online only.
McQueen said after the 2022 election, the biggest complaint he heard from citizens was that there was nowhere to go on election day to vote.
“A lot of people will wait until the last day. People just wait until the end. It’s human nature,” said McQueen.
Fines-VanAlstine explained that with the internet-only system, staff would ensure that there were places for residents to vote in-person. She said the municipal office would be open throughout the election period for in-person voting and they would also work with local libraries to ensure voting was available at those facilities.
The plan to have voting help centres set up at different locations in the municipality satisfied members of council that wanted to ensure in-person voting options were available.
“If we do the help centres properly, it’s basically in-person voting,” said Coun. Tom Allwood.
Nielsen said he couldn’t support switching to online voting only and said the decision was a mistake.
“I think this will turn off a segment of our population,” said Nielsen. “I do think we’ll be alienating a small portion of voters.”
Council directed staff to issue a request for proposals for online voting in 2026.
