The Town of Halton Hills is looking for a new company to handle its municipal election voting.
The Town has used Dominion Voting Systems equipment for all of its elections since 2010, but the company announced it will not be offering an online voting option in 2026.
The local municipality introduced online voting in the 2022 election and 49 per cent of all votes were cast online.
During the most recent town council meeting, staff brought forward a report seeking approval to issue a request for proposal (RFP) to find another company that could provide both vote tabulators for in-person voting and online voting.
Councillor D’Arcy Keene requested that the Town instead issue a request for information (RFI) so council could review what the various companies offer first.
“What we're being asked to vote on is to give carte blanche to the clerk’s department to ensure that we're doing online voting in the next election, even though we have no idea what that's going to look like and who the vendors are going to be to supply that service,” Keene said.
“I heard a lot of concern about election integrity - not just this election, but other elections. There’s just a real cynicism out there among the electorate," he also noted during the meeting.
The RFI suggestion, which would likely delay the process by two months or more, received little support after Town Clerk Val Petryniak said other municipalities are issuing RFPs following Dominion’s announcement.
Councillor Jason Brass said it’s important to make voting as easy as possible and noted he heard nothing but positive comments about voting online. He said with online voting now becoming the preferred method for so many people, it’s vital the Town keeps it as an option.
“I agree more information is always better than less, but I don’t want to miss the boat,” he said. “If running out of a vendor is a real possibility, I would put caution to putting this RFP on hold. Our clerk is a professional, and obviously has parameters that are in place already, and I can’t imagine would select a vendor that wasn’t secure.”
Petryniak confirmed the RFP would require companies to meet established criteria.
“When we build the RFP, there will be stringent key points in there that they have to meet and if they don’t meet those technical points, then we wouldn’t go with them,” she said.
Mayor Ann Lawlor was also against delaying the RFP. She didn’t want to end up like some municipalities that didn’t have a decision at the end of election night because of the time it took to tabulate results.
“The idea that we might jeopardize having a good vendor working for us and able to provide both types of voting is one that makes me quite nervous,” she said.
Councillor Clark Somerville said he could support an RFI, but also said he has never had any concerns about the integrity of the municipality’s elections.
“I do have the utmost faith in the tabulators and the system we’ve used,” he said. “I’ve never had anyone be squeamish about it, except those who don’t like technology in general.”
Keene did say he supports online voting, but wants to ensure security protocols are in place when a new company to supply voting equipment is chosen.
Council eventually approved an amended motion that allows the Town to proceed with the RFP, but removed wording that would've permitted staff to execute an agreement with the chosen company without further council approval. This means the matter will come back to council before a contract is awarded.
The next municipal election is scheduled for 2026.