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Online Voting
Wikipedia
None of the above"
(NOTA) is a ballot choice that lets
voters reject all listed candidates.
A formal way to show disapproval for all
candidates on a ballot rather than
skipping the vote entirely
The City
of Toronto has commissioned and
discussed several staff reports and
council decisions evaluating internet
and alternative voting technologies over
the past decade.
The primary
City Clerk staff reports and City
Council decisions on internet voting can
be searched or cited as follows:
1. 2013–2014
Reports: The Disability Pilot Project &
Cancellation
·
City Council Decision (June 2013) – Item
GM22.15:
o
Context: City Council directed the
City Clerk to create a working group to
explore and implement an internet voting
pilot for electors with disabilities for
the 2014 municipal election.
o
Reference Link:
Toronto City
Council Item GM22.15 (June 2013)
·
City Council Authorization (February
2014) – Item CC48.4:
o
Context: City Council authorized the
City Clerk to proceed with contracting a
vendor (Scytl Canada Inc.) to deliver
internet and telephone voting for
electors with disabilities during
advance voting in 2014.
o
Reference Link:
Toronto City
Council Item CC48.4 (February 2014)
·
City Clerk Report on Cancellation (July
2014) – Item CC54.5:
o
Context: The City Clerk submitted a
report explaining the decision to cancel
the internet voting pilot right before
the election due to unresolved security,
privacy, and technical vendor compliance
risks.
Council then
directed the Clerk to report back on
future potential implementations.
o
Reference Link:
Toronto City
Council Item CC54.5 (July 2014)
2. 2016–2018
Reports: Feasibility & Technology Risk
Analysis
·
Executive Committee Report (November
2016) – Item EX19.6 / GM32.31:
o
Title:
Changes to the Municipal Elections Act
and Related Matters
o
Context: Following the 2014
cancellation, City staff re-evaluated
election technology.
Staff
reported that there had been
insufficient advances in internet
security to accept the risks of
implementing internet voting for the
2018 election.
Staff noted
that challenges regarding secrecy of the
vote, verifiability, and cyber-attack
vulnerabilities remained unresolved.
o
Reference Link:
Toronto City Council Item EX19.6 Agenda
History
3. 2020
Report: COVID-19 & Alternative Voting
Methods
·
Executive Committee Report (September
2020) – Item EX16.7:
o
Title:
The Impact of COVID-19 on 2022 Election
Preparation Activities
o
Context: During pandemic planning
for the 2022 election, City Council
requested staff to re-examine
alternative voting methods.
The City Clerk's report explicitly
concluded that internet voting still
carried insurmountable cybersecurity
vulnerabilities for a city of Toronto's
size. Instead, the City opted to expand
digital tools (the
MyVote portal) and mail-in voting
rather than full digital casting.
o
Reference Document:
Toronto Background Staff File (EX16.7 -
Sept 2020)
4. Key
Independent Studies on Ontario Municipal
Internet Voting
In addition to
internal Toronto staff reports,
independent academic and policy studies
frequently examine why Toronto and
Ottawa have refrained while smaller
Ontario towns use it:
·
Carleton University Cybersecurity Study
(2025):
o
Focus: Analyzed security
vulnerabilities and credential
distribution flaws (e.g., mail PINs)
across 70% of Ontario municipal online
elections in 2022, offering strong
empirical data on why larger cities
remain hesitant.
·
Elections Ontario Assessment (2013):
o
Focus: Evaluated internet and
telephone voting across the province,
highlighting trade-offs between voter
accessibility and systemic auditability.
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