Dear Editor:

This letter is written in regards to a request submitted to the Town of Osoyoos related to the use of automated voting machines in the last municipal election.

A statement in a recent staff report indicates there is no impact to the community relating to this issue, when, in fact, there is significant impact.

At a Committee of the Whole meeting on Dec. 21, 2015, Ray Vandenberg and Jean Clarke requested to approach Town of Osoyoos council to air their concerns and present documents to support their claim to have the town stop using AccuVote O/S voting machines as they believed them to be unreliable and able to be “hacked.”

Vandenberg and Clarke also mention that they were speaking on behalf of the citizens of Osoyoos. This statement was recorded in the minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting, even though the video and sound did not work at that particular meeting.

So here we are many months later and there remains great concern with all the people of Osoyoos with the use of these automated voting machines.

It is the peoples’ wish to have local residents decide whether the bylaw relating to the use of these machines should be adopted.

As there is no urgency regarding the adoption of this bylaw, as the implementation will not be activated until April or May of 2018 for the pending municipal election scheduled for October of 2018, many local residents of Osoyoos strongly recommend that this issue should go to the Alternate Approval Process (AAP).

The residents of Osoyoos will  object to an Accent of Elector process (formerly known as a referendum) because the Town of Osoyoos would use the very automated voting machines that are being questioned in terms of reliability to record the vote.

Many local residents want the total removal of the AccuVote O/S automatic voting machines withdrawn immediately.

During the Dec. 21, 2015 meeting, Mayor Sue McKortoff was quoted as saying this issue would be taken on advisement.

Many people of Osoyoos want to circumvent this unlikely action and have a voice in the way their votes are tallied. The action proposed would put to rest the ongoing perceived issues once and for all. I suggest you let the residents of Osoyoos speak.

(Editor’s Note: Mr. Vandenberg and Ms. Clarke ran for the position of mayor, and town councillor, respectively, in the 2014 municipal election. The writer of this letter, Sy Murseli, also ran unsuccessfully for a position on town council).

Sy Murseli

Osoyoos, B.C.