COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Online voting is here to stay
Pilot project impressed physicians with convenient format
T
he votes are counted. And
the decision is clear – online voting for Council elections is here to stay. According to
the many physicians who voted in
last year’s election, our pilot project
was an overwhelming success.
In fact, dozens of physicians took
the opportunity to comment about
the simplified process of online
voting.
“Great system! I would not
have voted otherwise.”
“Great system! I would not have voted
otherwise,” wrote one physician.
“Very convenient voting format.
Much appreciated,” wrote another.
“The electronic ballot is fantastic,”
another voter commented.
This was the first year that the College held an online election. The
pilot project only allowed physicians to vote online, as paper ballots
were not available.
Perhaps not surprisingly, voter
participation in the three districts
involved – 1, 3 and 4 – was between 5 to 10% higher than it has
been with paper ballots.*
The district participation results are
as follows:
District 1: 44.5%
District 3: 39.5%
District 4: 32.3%
Online voting in Council elections
is also more efficient and cost effective. It costs a fraction of paperbased elections, after printing, postage and supply costs are incurred.
Although the pilot project is considered a success, challenges were
encountered in the process. For
example, a recent College by-law
requires all members to have an
email address, however, some physicians still do not have one. The
College contacted each physician
who had not provided us with an
email address to remind him/her of
the requirement.
The other challenge was that electronic ballots could not be provided
to voters who share email addresses
with another member. This is
because the election system uses
voter email addresses as the unique
identifier for each ballot.
As physicians come to understand
the requirements for online voting,
these challenges will disappear.
healthy. I am optimistic that, in
making the voting process easier
and more efficient, more physicians will exercise this important
privilege,” said Dr. Rocco Gerace,
College Registrar.
Dr. Marc Gabel, College President,
agreed. “I am extremely pleased
with the success of online voting.
The positive feedback from the
membership was gratifying. It has
been a real win/win scenario,”
he said.
In the fall, we will be holding an
online election in Districts 5
and 10.
“Participation in Council elections
is key to keeping self-regulation
* No election was held in District 2 as the candidate was acclaimed.
DIALOGUE • Issue 1, 2014
19