The hotly-contested issue of internet voting will be on the front burner at Monday’s meeting of Guelph City Council.
A total of 16 people have registered to appear as delegates before council on Monday.
In addition, council has received 290 written submissions from the public regarding the issue.
Council will be asked to ratify a Committee of the Whole decision on April 3 that rejected online voting in the 2018 municipal election.
It was previously used during advanced voting in the 2014 election, with 13,000 people voting online, which was roughly 33 per cent of all votes cast in
Council voted 7-5 at the Committee of the Whole meeting against internet voting.
Mayor Cam Guthrie, who was not at the Committee of the Whole meeting, has been running a social media campaign in support of enhanced online voting in 2018.
In an earlier interview he accused those of opposing online voting of “electioneering” and voter suppression.
Coun. Mike Salisbury, one of those voting against expanding online voting at this time, fired back that the Mayor was using it as a campaign platform and accused Guthrie of showing a “profound lack of leadership.”
Proponents of online voting cite its ease of use, increased participation levels and accessibility for voters with accessibility issues as the main benefits.
Opponents, many of who are in favour of the concept of online voting, feel that it is not yet secure enough and is open to voter fraud and hacking, issues compounded by voter registration issues.
The open portion of Monday’s council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.
