Nova Scotia·NewThe Municipality of Kings County will review its decision to allow voters to only cast a ballot by internet or phone after some residents asked the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to throw out the results of the 2024 municipal election. 3 residents argued move to phone, internet vote violated CharterJosh Hoffman · CBC News · Posted: Nov 01, 2025 3:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe Municipality of Kings County reached a settlement last month with three residents who challenged the validity of last year’s municipal election in court. (Municipality of Kings County/Facebook)The Municipality of Kings County will review its decision to allow voters to only cast a ballot by internet or phone after some residents asked the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to throw out the results of last year’s municipal election. Three residents filed an application to the court in the days following the election — the first time the municipality held the vote without paper ballots.The applicants, who declined to be interviewed, said the change violated Nova Scotia’s Municipal Elections Act and their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, according to court documents.“They felt that maybe doing it electronically wasn’t, in their opinion, maybe quite as secure, and that they felt that it lessened the opportunity to have as many people vote,” Mayor Dave Corkum told CBC News.The municipality reached a settlement with the applicants in September and has agreed to conduct a review of its voting bylaws, which will involve public consultation. Kings County Mayor Dave Corkum said he has no concerns over the validity of the 2024 municipal election after three residents asked the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to void the results of last year’s vote. (Municipality of the County of Kings/Facebook)But Corkum said voter turnout was actually up slightly last year. It rose from 30.4 to 31.7 per cent compared to the 2020 election, according to the municipality.Council has no concerns with the technology or third-party used to conduct paperless voting, he said.”[Staff] advised us that everything is safe and that we should be comfortable with the results,” Corkum said.Review to take place before next electionThe applicants made several requests in their initial application to the Supreme Court last November that aren’t part of the settlement. They wanted a new election to be held where voters could cast paper ballots at polling stations with staff, according to court documents. The documents said the applicants wanted the court to recognize that the municipality acted unlawfully by requiring voters to use PIN numbers to vote and “discriminated against electors who were unwilling or unable to use PIN numbers … particularly seniors.”The applicants called for “certain electoral officers” to be fined and that they be awarded compensation for their rights being violated, the documents said. However, a notice of discontinuance was filed by the three residents on June 30, 2025 before the settlement was reached. Many municipal leaders defeated in Saturday’s electionAnnapolis Royal elects all-women council, mayorThe municipality wanted the settlement not to prevent the municipality or council from publicly asserting the election was conducted properly and lawfully, according to the mayor. “As the newly elected mayor, I want to make sure that everything was done properly and lawfully and … the citizens of Kings County wouldn’t expect anything any less,” Corkum said.The review process for the voting bylaw has to be done at least six months before the 2028 municipal election, according to the settlement. MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORJosh Hoffman is a reporter for CBC Nova Scotia. Josh worked as a local radio reporter all over Canada before moving to Nova Scotia in 2018.
Kings County to review paperless voting after residents ask court to void 2024 election
