Self-proclaimed “council watchdog” Sy Murseli recently challenged the use of automated voting machines in the 2014 municipal election, in which he was a candidate for council. After hearing a report from staff indicating that Murseli’s assertions were unfounded, council says it won’t revisit the issue. (Richard McGuire file photo)

Town of Osoyoos council heard Monday there is no proof whatsoever that the automated voting machines used to count ballots during the last municipal election in Osoyoos in 2014 were hacked or didn’t operate properly.

Janette Van Vianen, the town’s director of corporate services, presented a report about the use of automated voting machines following assertions by an Osoyoos man who has ran unsuccessfully for public office on numerous occasions that they could easily be hacked and weren’t reliable.

Council made it very clear following Van Vianen’s report that this is the end of the matter and they won’t be revisiting this issue again in the future.

Sy Murseli, who has ran for mayor and council on numerous occasions over the past 20 years and likes to call himself “the council watchdog”, had submitted a letter relating to the use of automated voting machines in the 2014 municipal election.

“Mr. Murseli appears to feel that the automated voting machines are unreliable and there is an ability for them to be hacked,” said Van Vianen.

She told council the programming of the memory cards for the voting machine is done off site and the Chief Election Officer doesn’t have any contact with the programmers.

“The programming is not done by anyone in the town office, nor does any town staff have the capability of doing any of the programming,” she said.

The machines can’t be remotely manipulated as they would have to be plugged into a telephone wall jack, which they are not, she said.

“The machines do not have wireless capability, therefore, there is no possibility of them being hacked,” she said.

The memory cards are tested for accuracy before advance voting takes place by the Chief Election Officer and Deputy Chief Election Officer, she said.

The memory cards are sealed in the machine with a numbered seal, which is viewed by and attested to by scrutineers and witnesses and remain sealed in the machine until the final vote count, at which time it is proven that the seal matches the same one placed on the machine on voting day, she said.

The voting machines were at all times locked up and under the watchful eye of the Chief Election Officer, she said.

“During the voting process, the candidates are permitted to have one scrutineer available and watch the process to ensure there are no issues,” she said.

If any candidate were uncertain of the results of the election and felt there was a reason to distrust the accuracy of the voting machines, they had an opportunity to apply for a judicial recount, but no such requests were made after the 2008, 2011 or 2014 elections, she said.

“While the skepticism of some people with regard to the voting machines is understood, staff can guarantee that the democratic process was followed in all elections since the voting machines came into use in Osoyoos,” she said. “There were no issues with the machines during the voting process or the ballot accounting process.

“We have utmost respect for the integrity of the election process and actually go above and beyond the legislated requirements to ensure the democratic process is not flawed and cannot be perceived to be anything but fair.”

Van Vianen said she has watched and read some of the issues relating to possible election fraud in some jurisdictions in the United States and “I can assure you there is no possible way this would occur in our elections. We have too many safeguards in place.”

Staff have looked at other automated voting machines, however, the new ones on the market don’t require paper ballots, she said. “This is not a preferred type of machine as you would no longer have a paper trail and the risks are higher, especially if a power failure was experienced during voting.”

Council unanimously supported a motion that Murseli be advised that the town will not be repealing its bylaw relating to the use of automated voting machines and will not be holding an Alternate Approval Process on this matter.

Coun. Mike Campol said staff has wasted enough time and resources on this issue and he suggested this topic not be revisited again in the future.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times