CORNWALL, Ontario – At the Feb. 13 Regular Meeting this Monday, the Council of the Corporation of the City of Cornwall decided to move forward with the Public Consultation phase for Ranked Ballot Elections.
The City of Cornwall will host an Open House to the public on Thursday, Mar. 16 at the Cornwall Civic Complex to answer questions and provide the public with information on the Ranked Ballot Elections. It is also an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the topic, as well as ask questions about how the process would be overseen.
To date, the City of Cornwall has used “First-Past-the-Post”, a method in which the person with the most votes wins. Alternatively, “Ranked Balloting” is a process in which the voter ranks the candidates in order of preference.
The Open House will feature Ministry of Municipal Affairs representatives from Cornwall City Council as well as Cornwall Administration. The representatives will be on hand to provide residents with a detailed explanation of how elections would be conducted, as well as a description of how votes would be distributed to candidates based on the rankings marked on ballots. An estimate of the costs of conducting the elections and a description of any alternative voting method will also be considered.
A Public Meeting will then be held one hour prior to a Regular Council Meeting in order to receive formal public input on moving from a “First-Past-the-Post” to a “Ranked” Ballot Election.
There will be three sessions offered on the Mar. 16 meeting, which are set to take place at the Cornwall Civic Complex. The morning session will go on between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. along with an afternoon session between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and an evening session taking place between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The Open House hopes to address any public concerns regarding the municipality’s proposed electoral reform.
The next Public Meeting is slotted for Monday Apr. 10 at Cornwall’s City Hall at 6 p.m.
Questions regarding the collection of information or requests for special accommodations can be directed to the Clerk’s Office 613-930-2787 x 2219.
