On July 26 I attempted to again introduce a Motion to Rocky View Council, the purpose of which was to create a voters' list in time for the October 2017 municipal election. For the second time in five months, my proposal was defeated. Currently we use the "honour" system – just show up at the polls, claim you live in Rocky View and you'll get a ballot. A proper voters' list may not prevent all fraudulent voting but it would go a very long way to reducing the potential. The current voting system in Rocky View is such that it is impossible to determine irregularities such as electors voting more than once or whether non-residents voted. Opponents of the voters' list argue there have not been any complaints about fraudulent voting. That's not surprising. Such complaints require proof and under the current system proof is impossible to obtain.
Canada sends officials to various trouble spots throughout the world to help ensure elections are conducted fairly. Foreign jurisdictions that use nothing other than the "honour" system rarely qualify as it is assumed fair elections in such places are hopeless.
This was the second time I tried to get council to insist on upholding the basic democratic principle of free and fair elections. The first time, five months ago, council defeated my motion. This time it never got to a vote. Essentially the decision to proceed with a motion that was voted upon within the last six months was up to the reeve. The reeve decided to allow it but was then challenged by Coun. Rolly Ashdown with strong support from Coun. Eric Lowther, both of whom won the last election by extremely narrow margins. The reeve then changed his mind and disallowed the motion. To be fair to the reeve, it was obvious the motion wouldn't get the needed majority support anyway. The reason I did not wait another month is because by then there would have not been sufficient time to have the list prepared (by law, it must be ready six months prior to the election although after that names can still be added or deleted).
The fragility of democracy is shown by how fair elections may be compromised by some bureaucratic, nonsensical, pathetic procedural matter. You have to wonder why council members would go to such great lengths to prevent the establishment of proper election procedures.
Alberta is one of only two provinces that does not insist on voters' lists in municipal elections but Alberta does allow the creation of such lists in its municipalities if a municipality so desires. Now try to follow this logic: Instead of a voters' list, Rocky View County Council has decided to make a formal request to Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) – the provincial association of rural municipalities – to in turn request that the provincial government make municipal voters' lists mandatory. That is to say Rocky View will ask AAMDC to ask the province to make something mandatory that Rocky View could have done itself but has twice refused to do so.
This is bound to give rise to considerable "head scratching" among provincial officials. Surely Rocky View must have a function other than supplying comic relief to the rest of the province.
Jerry Arshinoff, Councillor, Division 2 (Springbank), Rocky View County
