The Mail-In Vote Revisited

The Proudfoot Four ran for election partly on the mail-in vote issue. They say that restoring the mail-in vote will restore democracy to Kearney (where, according to Paul Tomlinson, we've been living in a communist dictatorship for the last four years under Comrade-Mayor Johnston).

But the mail in vote is about, well... voting. Right?

So why are the Proudfoot Four ignoring two polls that have clearly shown that a HUGE majority prefer the in-person ballot box? A poll is really just a tabulation of votes, isn't it?

The first poll was run by Councillor Louise Wadsworth on her blog. Wadsworth arrogantly assumed that her poll would show that the majority wanted a mail-in ballot, but her poll surprisingly showed that 69% favoured the ballot box. In typical Proudfoot fashion, instead of acknowledging the democratic will of the voters, Wadsworth buried the poll and fed her constituents the lie that Mayor Johnston ordered her to remove it.

Okay, so let's pretend she was ordered to remove it. Did she still represent her constituency at the council table when it came time to vote on the mail-in issue? Of course not! Tomlinson's will be done, and she voted against the clear majority of voters. Proudfoot democracy in action.

But this is ancient history. Let's look back just a few weeks before the election...

CottageCountryNow, the website for the Almaguin News and other regional newspapers, ran a poll on the mail-in vote issue and 84% vote against it!

So now that the Proudfoot Four have control of the town (Damn your clairvoyance, Mayor Johnston!) will they ignore these two, very clear, polls? Or will they put their money where their mouths are and show that they truly wish to represent the people of Kearney?

And how would they do that? Another poll?

No.

Here's how you do it: When the town puts out the tax bill, simply insert a questionnaire to the ratepayer asking them what method of vote they prefer. Then vote at council according to the popular vote of the electorate. It's called a referendum.

Simple.

But they won't do it. The Proudfoot Four don't represent the people of Kearney (two of them don't even live in Kearney). They represent the Proudfoot cottage associations that sponsored and funded their campaigns. Wadsworth already polled the ratepayers and we know how that turned out.

But we can always dream.