Point Edward council has decided to drop the telephone voting option for the next municipal election.
Internet and telephone voting was utilized during the 2022 municipal election.
Previously collected data showed that only 6.1 per cent of voters chose to vote by phone in 2022, down from 10.1 per cent in 2018.
CAO Jim Burns said the telephone option was very time consuming and involved a complicated system.
"In 2022, ourselves and Plympton-Wyoming were the only two that did internet and phone. From the clerk's standpoint, they would both like to go to just internet," Burns said.
By eliminating the phone option, Deputy Mayor Greg Grimes asked if the village could promote staff assistance to help residents vote using an iPad.
"Instead of me having to wrestle with the phone and all of the menus, I can call the office, request a voting appointment, and they either come here or somebody goes to their home -- or wherever they're at -- and allows them to vote," Grimes said. "I think that would deal with the access issue of not having a phone system."
Burns said online voting opens about 10 days early and residents can visit the municipal office during business hours to vote.
Councillor Tim Mondoux also noted residents can still visit a voting location on election day and vote by using a tablet/iPad instead of a paper ballot.
"To some people that is very important to them to vote on voting day," Mondoux said.
A motion to cut the phone voting option was passed during the February 25 council meeting. A bylaw will be prepared in time for the March meeting to be approved by council.
In early February, Sarnia city council approved a hybrid voting model for the 2026 municipal and school board election. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley was pleased to not see telephone voting return, as he referred to it as "a disaster".