Lakeshore council was asked Tuesday night to decide which voting method they would like to move forward with for the 2026 municipal election.
Lakeshore used the vote by mail method for five election cycles before moving to in-person voting in 2022, with voter turnout for vote by mail ranging between 40 and 53 per cent, and the most recent voter turnout with in-person method in 2022 at 30.09 per cent.
Administration recommended council endorse the use of internet voting only with one in-person voter assistance centre as the preferred method for 2026, as it is the most accessible "vote anytime anywhere" approach.
Councillor Ian Ruston disagreed with the recommendation and introduced a motion for the municipality to instead use traditional ballots with tabulators and accessibility devices.
"The security aspect of it, I think it's good that you present a drivers licence, photo ID, they check you off, you come in, and there's no way for any conspiracy theorists to get going on stuff that this was fixed, and we know what age we live in with social media," Ruston said.
Ruston said internet only voting could alienate some voters.
"A big chunk of the people who vote are older people, who like to go to their polling station and vote in that method, and I think any internet voting, and even telephone voting really turns them off, and that's the core group that does it, and you can see by Tecumseh's results the last election it wasn't overly successful," Ruston said.
According to the report, Tecumseh used a combination of internet/telephone voting, with a voter turnout of 28.72 per cent.
Deputy Mayor Kirk Walstedt said using traditional ballots was a fool-proof method.
"It's just a tried and true traditional way of voting, and I think people appreciate that and if they're that concerned about their elected representatives, then they're going to take a half hour and go to a polling station and do it," Walstedt said.
Ruston's motion passed.
The estimated cost for using traditional ballots is $221,000, while internet only voting was estimated at $180,000.
The election reserve has a balance of $68,436, according to the report, with the shortfall to be addressed during budget deliberations in the late fall.
In April, LaSalle council voted to move to online only voting for the 2026 municipal election, which will take place on Monday, Oct. 26.