Paper Ballots vs. Electronic Voting: Why Are Municipal Elections Different?

Canadians use different voting systems depending on which level of government they are electing and that raises an important question about transparency, verification and public confidence.

Federal Elections: Paper Ballots, Counted by Hand

When Canadians elect Members of Parliament, voters mark a physical paper ballot.

After the polls close, those ballots are counted by hand by election workers, with candidates or their representatives permitted to observe the count.

The physical ballots remain the evidence of how the election was conducted. If a recount is required, the ballots can be physically examined and counted again.

Elections Canada specifically confirms that federal paper ballots are counted by hand and can be re-examined when necessary.

The process is simple:

Voter → Paper Ballot → Physical Ballot Box → Hand Count → Recountable Evidence

Ontario Elections: Paper Ballots With Electronic Tabulators

Ontario has modernized its provincial voting system, but it has retained something extremely important:

The physical ballot.

Ontario voters mark a paper ballot. That ballot can then be inserted into a vote tabulator that electronically reads and counts it.

The important difference is that the machine does not replace the ballot.

The paper remains.

Elections Ontario states that its vote tabulators are purpose-built devices that scan paper ballots and are not connected to a network. If a recount is ordered, those original paper ballots can be counted manually.

The provincial system therefore looks like this:

Voter → Paper Ballot → Electronic Tabulator → Paper Retained → Manual Recount Available

Technology speeds up the count, while the physical ballot remains available as independent evidence.

Municipal Elections: A Completely Different Choice

Ontario municipal elections operate differently.

Section 42 of Ontario's Municipal Elections Act allows municipal councils to authorize voting equipment and alternative voting methods, including methods that do not require a voter to attend a traditional polling location.

That has resulted in municipalities across Ontario adopting different systems.

Some use paper ballots.

Some use paper ballots with optical scanners.

Others use vote-by-mail.

And others—including the City of Kawartha Lakes for the 2026 municipal election—use internet and telephone voting.

Kawartha Lakes Council approved the continued use of internet and telephone voting for the 2026 election.

In that system, there is no voter-marked physical ballot corresponding to each electronic vote.

The process is essentially:

Voter → Internet/Telephone → Electronic Record → Electronic Count

That is the fundamental difference.

Why the Physical Ballot Matters

The debate should not simply be framed as technology versus no technology.

Ontario's provincial election demonstrates that technology and physical ballots can work together.

The real issue is whether there is a physical, voter-created record independent of the electronic system.

With federal elections, the ballot itself can be counted again.

With Ontario provincial elections, the electronic tabulator's result can ultimately be checked against the original paper ballots.

With a completely electronic municipal election, there is no corresponding pile of voter-marked ballots that can be independently counted by hand.

That does not prove that an electronic election is inaccurate or fraudulent.

It does mean that the method of independently verifying the result is fundamentally different.

One Simple Question

If a physical, auditable ballot remains an important safeguard when Canadians elect their Members of Parliament...

And if Ontario retains physical ballots when choosing Members of Provincial Parliament...

why should municipal voters not be entitled to the same tangible, independently recountable record?

Municipal government affects our property taxes, roads, policing, emergency services, planning, development, water, waste collection and many of the government services residents experience every day.

The method used to elect that government should inspire confidence.

Technology can assist an election.

But technology does not require us to eliminate the paper ballot.

Paper Ballot.

Physical Record.

Independent Recount.

Public Confidence.

It is time for Kawartha Lakes and Ontario municipalities generally to have a serious public discussion about bringing the physical ballot back.