WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Town of Essex is moving ahead with a process for election reform after a number of complaints were issued during the 2018 municipal election.
Council heard from town staff that a number of policies require updating, including lawn sign bylaws, the use of corporate logos on election materials and the issuing of proxy vote forms.
The clerk is recommending proxy forms be issued to voters directly from town hall and not by individual candidates.
“I believe it’s going to streamline the process, and really give us a process and a procedure to follow to help people do the right thing,” says councillor Steve Bjorkman.
The report also calls for more “teeth” by-way of financial penalties to enforce the rules.
“It’s a good, a lot of good little loose ends tied up here and carved in stone so people can’t claim they didn’t know what the rule was,” says councillor Chris Vander Doelen.
Now that council has received the initial report, these issues will be dealt with one by one between September and December.
Council unanimously supported moving ahead with reform, with the goal of closing gaps in the town’s policies and procedures.
“This is going to define a lot of things and I think it’s going to be easier on our clerk in the next election,” says councillor Sherry Bondy. “It’s about having our staff in good situations where they’re not pulling their hair out.”
