Over the past week I have seen a couple of social media conversations focused on the voting methods to be used in the Municipality of Meaford for the October 26 municipal election, in which we will be voting by telephone or internet.
Many participating in these social media posts had expressed surprise that they will not be able to vote with a pencil and a paper ballot, and some have been angered by learning that they may vote by telephone or internet on October 26.
I first reported that council had voted in favour of the Municipality of Meaford utilizing telephone and internet voting for the 2026 municipal election in an article published in late April of last year. And I wrote about it again in an editorial published in January of this year, and again in an election preparation update article published in April. Some are clearly surprised, and some are quite angry to learn that, in the Municipality of Meaford, we will vote by telephone or internet this year.
It hasn’t been a secret. In addition to the articles and editorials that I have written noting the voting method to be used in this year’s municipal election, the municipality has made it known on their website and in their social media posts for more than a year.
“How are they going to inform people that don’t use Facebook?” one person asked, going on to suggest that the elderly do not use social media, which of course is a myth. According to Statistics Canada, roughly 85 percent of those over the age of 65 are regularly online, and more than half of those over the age of 65 are regular users of social media platforms.
So between newspaper articles – both in our print newspaper and published on our website, and municipal posts on social media, along with a comprehensive municipal election page on the municipality’s website, there are plenty of ways for voters of all ages to get the information they need.
Some fear that telephone and internet voting will deter the elderly from voting, and others suggest that the choice of telephone and online voting is intended to result in a lower voter turnout, for what reason I am unclear. And some have expressed anger that they can’t vote with paper and pencil in the October 26 municipal election. While I fully understand those who are saddened or even angry to see paper ballots cast aside, the data does not support the notion that without paper and pencil, voter participation will be reduced.
Voter participation in 2014 was 50.09 percent, and in 2018 was 43.84 percent, using the telephone and internet voting methods in both of those elections.
In the last municipal election, held in 2022, the municipality used in-person voting and mail-in ballots. That election saw just a 36.77 percent voter participation rate. Though Meaford’s voter turnout in 2022 was low, it was still slightly higher than the province wide turnout of 36.3 percent.
So with in-person voting used last time around, our voter turnout was significantly lower than it had been in the two previous municipal elections, both of which used telephone and internet as the voting methods.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a paper ballot. I prefer to put pencil to paper when I cast a ballot, but it is 2026, and times are changing. Electronic voting is cheaper for municipalities, and the results come in moments after the polls close rather than waiting for thousands of paper ballots to be manually counted.
As for concerns that the elderly won’t vote because the only options are telephone or internet voting, one local senior citizen participating in the social media discussion about the voting methods being used this year said it well:
I don’t think you’re giving seniors the credit they deserve. Seniors are old, not stupid! If they are not computer savvy, they can ask someone for help. I happen to be one of the seniors you claim can’t figure out how to vote in the upcoming election. I have voted by mail & online in the past as well as going to a polling station to vote in person. Please don’t assume because we are old we don’t know how to vote! If you’re so concerned, offer to help someone who may need assistance.
Some who participated in the social media discussions claim to be so angered by only learning now of the voting methods to be used in October’s election. One participant said:
I won’t be voting now. Maybe that’s what they want. I am not going to be put in a position where I only found out on this forum that this is the only option. I will stay home. Good luck with the voting, and no, I won’t complain about who gets in because that is how they want it anyway, they have already decided.
I can only say that it has not been a secret, it has been very public for more than a year. Some don’t like to hear it, but being informed requires effort: you can’t just sit back and expect all important information to fall into your social media feed. If you only found out about the voting methods for this year’s municipal election from a Facebook post in August, then you missed council’s discussion and vote on the voting method in late April 2025, you missed media reports published at the time, and you missed articles and editorials in this newspaper published in January and April of this year. You also missed several election-related posts by the Municipality of Meaford on the same platform (Facebook) that you are using to engage in the discussion.
Meaford is not alone in their choice of voting method for October’s municipal election. Seven of the nine municipalities in Grey County are using internet and telephone voting for this year’s election. Grey Highlands is using internet voting only, and the ninth municipality in the county, Chatsworth, is using only vote-by-mail.
So in all of Grey County, not a single municipality is using in-person voting for this year’s municipal election, and the majority are using the very same voting methods as the Municipality of Meaford – telephone and internet.
If you are curious, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) maintains a list of the voting methods of all of the municipalities in the province for the upcoming municipal election on their website (https://www.amo.on.ca/2026-vote-methods-municipality).
In just over a week the nomination period for candidates to register for the October 26 municipal election will close, and we will know the final roster of candidates from which voters will choose.
Election information, including the unofficial list of registered candidates can be found at: https://www.meaford.ca/en/our-government/election.aspx
