About Us

Newsroom - Letters to the Editor

October 21, 2003

(Letter sent to the Calgary Herald)

Dear Editor:

I would like to shed some light on your October 18th editorial, "Secret and sacred Mail and Internet are no alternative to a trip to the polling station."

Canada Post has successfully offered Vote by Mail service since 1997. Since then hundreds of municipalities have successfully participated in the program and this November some 109 municipalities in Ontario, representing more than one million voters, will conduct their elections through mail-in ballots.

The Vote by Mail program is a viable means of conducting elections and referendums. It controls election costs by eliminating the need for polling stations, advance polling and proxy voting. Vote by Mail has proven to increase overall voter turnout while maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the election process.

In the Ontario municipal elections in 2000, the voter turnout increased by an average of 28 per cent, in come cases it doubled. The St. John's Newfoundland turnout increased from its typical 50 per cent to 60 per cent. And in Quebec, one municipality peaked at 78 per cent turnout.

Municipalities provide Canada Post with voter information based on data they receive from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. That information is loaded into a secure database designed by Canada Post but owned and managed by individual municipalities. This address information is used to mail kits to eligible voters.

Voters complete their ballot and insert them in an anonymous inner secrecy envelope that is sealed and placed in a reply envelope along with a signed declaration form that is cross referenced by municipal officials against the eligible voters list. Any corrupt practice is an offence under the Municipal Elections Act.

I hope these facts put the Vote by Mail program in perspective.

Sincerely,

John Caines
Manager, National Media Relations
Ottawa
(613) 734-7675