Van Rijn pooh-poohs dropping electronic tabulators during election

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Sunny South News

Dear MLA Hunter,

I am writing to you regarding Bill 54, the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, and specifically the provision prohibiting the use of electronic tabulators in municipal elections. As you know, the Town of Coaldale, along with all municipalities across Alberta, held their municipal election on October 20, 2025, and this prohibition had a significant operational impact that warrants further discussion.

The removal of electronic tabulators resulted in a labour intensive, time-consuming, and more costly election process. Prior to the new legislation, Coaldale relied on tabulators as an efficient, transparent, and reliable tool that reduced administrative burden and strengthened public confidence. This year’s manual approach required substantially more staff, more hours, and more oversight, increasing our overall election costs. Coaldale was not alone in this experience. We were one municipality among many across Alberta that faced similar challenges and expressed concerns about the return to fully manual counts.

Without tabulators, every ballot had to be manually sorted, counted, verified, and recounted. This slowed the reporting of results and created additional pressure on our election workers. The process also introduced a heightened risk of human error, despite the diligence of our team.

A clear example of these challenges emerged on Election Night. The results for the final two candidates were extremely close, which required a recount. Once the recount was completed, the separation between the two candidates was found to be even narrower than initially reported. While our staff performed the work with professionalism and care, this experience highlights the limitations of manual counting and the potential for small variances to occur when handling thousands of ballots by hand.

This situation demonstrates why electronic tabulators are so valuable. They provide consistency, precision, and the ability to replicate results with a high level of confidence. Their use does not eliminate accountability. Rather, they complement the paper ballot system with an additional layer of accuracy that includes an audit trail that can be verified at any time. For growing communities like Coaldale, tools that enhance election integrity and administrative efficiency are essential to a well-run process.

From a cost perspective, manual counting did not save money. Instead, it shifted the financial burden to municipalities through increased staffing requirements, extended hours of operation, and expanded training obligations. These pressures were felt by municipalities across the province, not just Coaldale. The manual count also significantly delayed the reporting of results to the Province. In our previous election, Coaldale was able to report results within twenty-five minutes, whereas this year’s manual process required nearly three hours before results could be submitted.

Given these realities, our Council respectfully asks the Province to reconsider the prohibition on electronic tabulators, or at minimum, begin a review with input from the many municipalities that managed elections without them. If the Province intends to maintain the current direction, providing additional support or clear, standard procedures for manual counts would help reduce municipal liability and administrative strain. 

I appreciate your continued advocacy on behalf of Coaldale and all of your constituents in the Taber-Warner riding, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss our Election Day experience in greater detail at your convenience. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Jack Van Rijn
Mayor,

Town of Coaldale