Most Canadians oppose internet voting, according to Elections Canada research. A Liberal Party proposal for voting by smartphone was rejected by the House affairs committee prior to the 2021 campaign.
“A majority agree voting over the internet should not be an option in federal elections,” said an Elections Canada National Electors Study. Asked, “Should Canadians have the option to vote over the internet?” 52% were opposed. Only 20% said they “strongly agreed.”
“Just over half of respondents, 53%, said voting on the internet is risky, while 25% said voting on the internet is safe,” wrote researchers. “They added 22% were unsure, while the proportion of electors who view voting on the internet as risky has increased.
Liberal members of the House affairs committee in a 2021 report Protecting Public Health And Democracy During A Possible Pandemic Election proposed Canadians be allowed to cast ballots by smartphone. It recommended Elections Canada “explore the options for establishing a vote by phone option.”
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, opposition MPs opposed the recommendation.
“Phone voting poses considerable challenges for properly verifying the identity of voters who vote this way,” Bloc Québécois MPs wrote in a minority report.
“It also opens the door to fraud, something important to consider especially in light of the theft of data and personal information over the internet in recent years.”
The committee subsequently voted six to five to ban smartphone voting.
“I truly just don’t believe we have all the evidence that is necessary to support something like this,” Conservative MP Karen Vecchio (Elgin-Middlesex, ON) said at the time. “That is why we’re putting this in. There is just not enough evidence for us to try to move in that direction.”
“This amendment would prohibit the Chief Electoral Officer from permitting telephone or internet voting or ballot counting through his authority to adapt the act,” said Vecchio. “We have heard some of these things.”
“This is pretty significant,” said Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien (La Prairie, QC). “We don’t think in the short term we should open the door to this kind of exercise.”
Federal elections since 1867 have been decided by hand counting of paper ballots. The Electors Study found a third of voters oppose any automation of the system including machine counting.
“Electors had mixed views on the preferred methods for counting ballots and keeping lists of electors,” wrote researchers. More than a third, 35%, expressed strong preference for keeping voters’ lists on paper.
When asked, “In Canadian federal elections each paper ballot is counted by hand. In some provincial elections paper ballots are scanned into a machine that counts the votes. Which do you prefer?” 37% had no opinion; 34% preferred hand counting; 26% liked machine counts.
Findings were drawn from 93,299 questionnaires with electors. Elections Canada paid $756,867 for the research by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Incorporated.