Drive-thru voting coming to Cambridge in 2022

Cambridge will provide a variety of ways to ensure accessible and safe voting in 2022.

This includes a recommended hybrid approach.

The next municipal and school board elections will be held on Oct. 24, 2022 when eligible voters will elect a mayor, ward councillors, trustees for both public and Catholic school boards, regional councillors, and a regional chair.

A motion was passed at a city council meeting last week approving a hybrid approach which will include internet voting and a curbside/drive-thru in-person option.

The “drive-thru” option will include the use of paper ballots and optical scan tabulators with one curbside location per ward.

The curbside/drive-thru voting method was recently used in the 2020 Ward 7 by-election and received positive feedback from electors despite being in the middle of the pandemic, according to city staff.

“Going into it, there was great anticipation as to what drive-thru voting would be like, but this is an example of innovation which was carried off so well,” Coun. Scott Hamilton said.

“Knowing we can rise above these circumstances, it positions us well.”

Hamilton was elected in October 2020 after a by-election that was the longest municipal contest held in the history of Cambridge.

The city used curbside voting outside city hall where electors could safely cast their ballot from the convenience of their vehicle.

During an election, the city clerk is responsible for ensuring that security and internal processes are established regardless of the method of election chosen to ensure that the integrity of the election process is upheld and the secrecy of the vote is maintained.

The City of Cambridge was the recipient of the E.A. Danby Award in 2021 for planning and execution of the Ward 7 by-election.

The city collaborated with three other municipalities, Ottawa, Windsor, and Pelham who also planned and held by-elections during the pandemic.

Because of this experience, the City of Cambridge is fortunate to have pandemic procedures for municipal elections already established with tried and tested practices to exercise in 2022.

“Danielle Manton and her team won this award because of their delivery of a safe election under dire circumstances during a pandemic. This has never been done before,” said Cambridge mayor, Kathryn McGarry.

Candidate information packages and information sessions will be available in the new year.

“Staff have done a great job in providing details and I’m encouraged to hear a hybrid system will be available for advanced polling and on election day,” city councillor Mike Mann said.

“Voting accessibility will be a great benefit.”