City auditor’s post-election report finds inadequate training, worker shortage major voting day issues

At least one Edmonton councillor believes a report into the fall election only skims the surface of the problems voters experienced.

A report from the City of Edmonton’s auditor finds inadequate training for poll workers and confusing new forms caused frustration and delays for voters in last October’s municipal election.

One city councillor thinks the after-action report doesn’t fully capture how wide-spread election-night issues were.

Long line-ups at polling stations were a common experience on election day, Oct. 20.

The report from the Office of the City Auditor finds frustration was high for both voters and city staff as they adapted to new provincial requirements.

“These challenges centred primarily on difficulties with the computer system, potentially stemming from inadequate training, technical issues or human error, and struggles with accurately completing the necessary worksheets and forms,” the report read.

A preliminary report by Edmonton Elections also highlights issues for staff, saying “specific feedback from election workers suggested that more hands-on training in the use of the ‘electronic electors register’ as well as completion of the forms was needed.”

“None of what they identified would have materially impacted the outcome of the election, but nevertheless, we have clear work that needs to be done,” Mayor Andrew Knack said on Wednesday.

The reports find Edmonton Elections had many workers handling several jobs, with some working one job for advance polls and another on election day.

“On election day, I saw my scrutineers talking about how they could see that people didn’t know how to use the computer system,” said Thu Parmar, councillor for Ward Sipiwiyiniwak. “There was a lot of confusion.”

Parmar was elected after a recount in her ward. While she’s confident in the results, she’s not sure the audit fully captures the election day turmoil.

“I don’t know if what I experienced is in there, because it says 93 per cent of stations had minor issues, so I’m not actually sure if my ward was the seven per cent,” she said.

Knack also takes issue with the provincial requirement to hand-count ballots, which meant results were not published on election day.

The province is doing its own review. A spokesperson for Dan Williams, the minister of municipal affairs, said the ministry will start to review the Local Authorities Election Act early this year.

City councillors will discuss the audit next week.