By Pepper Parr
October 14th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
City Clerk Kevin Arjoon posted a comment on Twitter that many thought was inappropriate for a City Clerk who is the Senior Administrative staff member who reports directly to the City Manager and now has the designation of a Director as well.
Arjoon appeared to be trying to explain why some people were getting multiple voting letters.
A tweet sent out by City Clerk Kevin Arjoon.
The Gazette received the following from Suzanne Vukosavljevic, who is part of the Communications group at city hall.
“It is possible voters may receive multiple voter Information letters for varying reasons. This is not unique to the Burlington municipal election unfortunately. All Ontario municipal clerks receive the voters list from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
All municipalities will be able to use the Elections Ontario List of Electors for the next municipal election in 2026. Enabling legislation has been passed in the Municipal Elections Act, and it comes into effect, as of January 1, 2023.
“Voters may receive extra voter information letters, if the duplicate entry form MPAC was not caught due to a combination of discrepancies.
If a resident receives multiple voter information letters, they should use the one that matches their identification when they go to their voting location. Voters are only allowed to vote once, even if they received extra voter information letters. Reminder to voters do not vote twice, it is an offence under the Act and it can be linked back to the individual.
“The City of Burlington’s City Clerk can have his team remove duplicates in the system wherever possible in the system. The Elections team is following up on all requests that come through to their office.
If a resident has any questions or are experiencing any issues, they can email election@burlington.ca. They can also call 905-335-7777 x8683 (VOTE) Monday to Friday between 8:45 a.m. and 8 p.m. from Oct. 11 to Oct. 20. This phone line is also available on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 16 between noon and 5 p.m.
“My bugaboo with the Ontario Municipal Elections Act is that they use binary gender pronouns throughout the document. It is 2022.”
Now, this is Kevin Arjoon, the City Official most responsible for ensuring the integrity of the current municipal election process; the one individual who’s duties and responsibilities are very carefully defined under the Municipal Elections Act. So, when he opines about the Act, or the process, you should take him seriously.
But can you? The municipal electoral process – as conceived and bestowed by the Province – is chock full of serious flaws and anomalies. It imposes a duration (6 months) that is ridiculously long, it allows local Councils to “tweak” the electoral rules (arguably to the benefit of incumbents) and it permits ‘business as usual’ events with all the associated incumbent photo ops to proceed during the final weeks of the campaign. It is a seriously flawed instrument that directs one of our most fundamental rights – the right to freely choose who will represent our voice.
So, for the Clerk of the City of Burlington to announce that his primary issue is “binary gender pronouns” is a head-shaking, mic dropping moment. Frankly, as long as the fundamental rights of all citizens are protected and applied equally, the sexual orientation, preference, association of an individual should be a matter of complete and total indifference. What matters is the creation of a fair and equitable process for each citizen to exercise their choice. And the revelation this week that there are serious issues with the integrity of the online voting process, issues that are still to be satisfactorily explained and resolved, speaks volumes imo of the impacts of the ‘style over substance’ orientation of Burlington’s current administration. One person may receive several voting cards with the consequent ability to vote several times but, damn, those cards better be addressed to the proper “She/her, He/him, They/it, All of the above with more to come”. I don’t believe that it is the gender identification that is “binary” but, rather, the thought process currently in vogue at the City and it’s time we switched this one from “on” to “off”.
Kevin uses the term ‘My Bugaboo’ on his twitter account. This is not just a simple mistake…the challenge here is some people who do have duplicate voter cards may try to vote twice for their candidate. How did this get overlooked…and what measures in place to catch a double vote in the system? It states…can have his team remove duplicates in the system wherever possible in the system.’…that to me is not good enough. They just said ‘wherever possible’…that’s open ended and could mean, they may have no idea who voted twice.
Are you willing to cast 2 votes in a municipal election and face jail time ? A Ward councilor or a school board trustee. Of course not. Councilors put in swingsets and splash pads. Jail time for that….I don’t think so.
Keith, I am hearing more of people not receiving their cards which means they cannot vote online and there are many who are relying on those cards in terms of where to vote and they don`t know where to go to get it fixed. I am hearing from those who know I am running for Mayor but what about those who are on their own and don`t have a clue what to do, Something drastically wrong, first a workable web site is taken down and we have all kinds of info missing including last election financial reports Yes they sent them to candidates on the Portal but this is information that should be available to the electorate. Now double voting cards and no voting cards at all. Wonder if the no voting card number is the same as the duplicate card number. Wouldn`t that tell a story,
Regarding those that vote more than once. “it can be linked back to the individual”. Sure. Same as warning children to not pee in the pool or it will produce a coloured dye in the water. People are going to do what people do.
If I am not mistaken the MPAC list is compiled of residents who pay property tax. If this is not correct please let me know.
If that is the case how are the lists complied for those residents who rent not own their units?
Penny there is a voter registration list which all candidates have access to. There is a mechanism for members of the public to check whether on this list on line on the Burlington election website. There is an ability to change and add your information on the Voters List at Burlington Public Library Branches, Burlington Pools and on Election Day can add or change information By Filling Out an Application to Amend the Voters List and required ID list is under Ontario`s acceptable documents for voter identification list.
The issues of concern are getting more and more. Kevin Arjoon has failed to provide me with the Ministry staff who are responsible for Halton Region which I believe Burlington comes under in response to at least three requests. These would be the people who should be contacted in terms of do we need some oversight here from the Ministry in terms of is everything above board. If we do it needs to be done Monday at the very latest. Perhaps Pepper can have better success with Kevin in this regard.