THE VOTING PROCESS

Any eligible voter who wishes to vote must attend the voting place for his/her voting subdivision. Upon attendance at the designated voting place, the voter will be directed to the appropriate voting station to receive a ballot.

If the voter’s name is not on the voters list, the voter will first be directed to the Clerk for Oaths to complete the necessary Oath of Voter, provided he/she is able to establish identity.

All voters, regardless if their name is on the voters list, will be required to establish identity. Voters may do so by providing:

• An official document issued by a federal, provincial or municipal government that contains the person’s name, address and photograph (such as a Driver’s License); or
  
  
• At least two other documents that provide evidence of the person’s identity; or
  
  
• Identification in another manner deemed acceptable by the Senior Election Official.

Once the voter has established his/her identity, he/she shall receive a ballot with instructions for marking the ballot.

AUTOMATED VOTING

In 1995 the City of Winnipeg introduced automated voting. In addition to improving the accuracy and speed of reporting as well as accountability, automated voting revolutionized all of the election processes and systems, and has proven to be a resounding improvement over previous elections.

Based on a paper-based ballot, the system utilizes optical scanning technology to determine voter intention. A paper-based ballot system is user-friendly and provides for appropriate audit control. The voting machine is made up of an optical scanner mounted on a large ballot box. One voting machine is present in each voting place. Each optical scanner contains a memory pack which records the details of all ballots inserted into the optical scanner. After the close of voting, the memory pack prints out a tabulation of the votes cast and is then taken from the voting machine and transported to Election Headquarters, at the Council Building, 510 Main Street. The contents of each memory pack are electronically read into the central tabulation unit, which compiles the results. Election results are reported by the Senior Election Official within approximately 90 minutes of the close of voting.

COMPOSITE BALLOT

The paper ballot is a large composite ballot containing the names of candidates for all three Offices to be voted on, i.e. the Offices of Mayor, Councillor and School Trustee. The ballot will be colour coded white for the Office of Mayor, pink for the Office of Councillor and yellow for the Office of School Trustee. The candidates' names will appear in random order as determined by a draw held by the Senior Election Official following the close of nominations. If a voter is not eligible to vote for School Trustee, the ballot will only contain the Offices of Mayor and Councillor. In the case of a by-election, the ballot will only contain the Offices with vacancies to be filled.

VOTING

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARKING BALLOT     Draw a line connecting the head and tail of the arrow that points to your choice. USE ONLY THE BALLOT MARKING PEN PROVIDED   If you make an error please return your ballot to the Voting Record Officer.

At the voting station, each eligible voter will receive one paper ballot containing the candidates’ names, in random order. To mark the ballot the voter must draw a line connecting the arrow that points to the choice of candidate with the special pens provided in the voting compartments. Once the voter has made his or her choice, he or she shall then insert the marked ballot into the secrecy sleeve provided and proceed to the voting machine where it will be inserted into the automated voting machine by an Election Officer. The optical scanner reads the ballot as it is deposited into the ballot box, increases the number count by one and stores the information on the memory pack. This process takes place in less than one second after the ballot is inserted.