The Law Society’s ever-expanding use of the Internet will soon encompass one of its oldest traditions: Bencher elections.
After a heated debate at last week’s Convocation, the Benchers voted in favour of a motion that would see materials for the 2011 Bencher Election be distributed electronically, with the actual vote taking place online through a secure site.
The proposal to take the election online was presented at Convocation by former Law Society Treasurer Derry Millar, of WeirFoulds LLP, who revealed that the cost to print and mail the materials — which include a thick booklet containing candidate information, as well as voting information and materials, a ballot card and a stamped, return envelope for returning the vote — is expected to cost the Law Society $300,000. “The prime reason for distributing the materials electronically, apart from the fact that we now live in an electronic world, is the cost,” Millar said.
Despite the high price tag and the environmental benefits, the proposal spawned a massive debate. “How are people going to compare candidates on a screen,” asked John A. Campion, of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, who also questioned whether the new method would do anything to increase voter participation. “Otherwise, the money doesn’t seem sufficient cause to change.”
Many other benchers agreed that the $300,000 it would cost is not significant enough to spur a change, with Bradley Wright referring to the amount as “peanuts.” He did, however, suggest that the Law Society enact a policy whereby if a member doesn’t vote, he or she will be charged a $100 fee, which might partially cover the cost of the election and discourage voter ambivalence, which is at a disappointing high.
The biggest argument against the change came from those that don’t want to transition into reading the election materials on a screen.
“Many of our members have historically taken the booklet and spent a great deal of time studying it,” said Constance Backhouse, who relayed the story of a friend of hers who enjoys the act of sitting down with a glass of wine to read the candidate information. “That may not be the next generation, but we’ve got a lot of old people here.”
“The booklet is something that I can take away to my cottage. I can read it and store it,” said Thomas Heintzman of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. “I’m a little concerned that people like Mr. Campion and me aren’t going to vote because they won’t know all the information.”
“If you need it in paper,” responded Millar, “just press ‘print.’ It can even come out with staples on the side, exactly the same as if we’d spent our members’ money to print and send it out.”
Heather Joy Ross came out in defense of the proposal, saying that “the majority of all communication these days is text messages. That is where the world is, not where it’s going.”
At the end of the nearly two hour long debate, however, the benchers decided in favour of taking the election online, but making the printed materials available to those who request them.
Photo by Charles Hoffman