Markham wins national municipal innovation award for digital democracy efforts

MARKHAM, ON —May 31, 2023 — The City of Markham has received national recognition from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) for our effort called, Innovating Democracy: 2022 Markham Municipal Election. Today we received the 2023 CAMA Willis Award for Innovation, in the over 100,000-population category, during the Awards of Excellence Ceremony.

“The City of Markham is proud to be recognized with this award for our recent digital democracy efforts for the 2022 Markham Municipal Election,” says Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “This recognition reaffirms our position as an innovative and forward-thinking municipality committed to paving the way when it comes to digital democracy. By continuing to modernize our municipal elections we were able to break down barriers making voting accessible to all voters leading to Markham’s largest online voter turnout since 2003 when we were Canada’s first city to offer online voting as an option.”

“CAMA is pleased to recognize Markham for the administrative excellence demonstrated though their digital democracy efforts,” said Bev Hendry, CAMA President and CAMA Member-At-Large (For Municipalities with Populations Under 100,000) and CAO for the Township of West Lincoln, ON. “The City’s use of cutting-edge automation and business intelligence software has presented an important case study for municipalities in how to balance the increasing demands and complexities of today’s dynamic legislated service environment with enhancing the citizen experience.”

The City of Markham is a leader in digital democracy. Markham was Canada’s first city to vote online in 2003 and maintains one of North America’s longest-running online voting programs today.

In 2022, the City continued its history of electoral innovation by introducing several new and ground-breaking service enhancements leveraging automation, business and artificial intelligence, and advanced cryptography to streamline service delivery, drive engagement, and further public trust in next-generation voting technologies. These include:

• On-demand eSignature services for election registration,
• A multi-platform, multi-language, and data-driven community engagement strategy, and
• Canada’s first election to feature online voting with independent post-vote ballot verification technology.

Together, these innovations accelerated key service processing times 45-60%, led to Markham’s highest ever online voter turnout (93%), and marked a critical breakthrough in the development of national online voting standards. In doing so, Markham’s 2022 municipal election represents an important turning point in electoral practice, both locally and beyond.

“Markham has been a longstanding leader in embracing digital technologies and finding innovative solutions in the delivery of services," said CAO Andy Taylor. "This prestigious award recognizes the City of Markham’s commitment to deliver a voting process that is accessible, user friendly and efficient, including the ability to vote online."

“For decades, the CAMA Awards of Excellence have recognized the achievements of local governments and their senior staff in the development and implementation of successful programs, projects or services,” said Vince Lalonde, Chair of the 2023 CAMA Awards, as well as CAMA Board Representative for British Columbia and City Manager for the City of Surrey, BC. “This year we received 35 award submissions. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who took the time to enter the awards program.”

To find out more about the City of Markham’s award, as well as the other 2023 CAMA Awards of Excellence winners, visit www.camacam.ca/awards and look for the award recipients’ link.

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Media Contacts: 
City of Markham, Kisha Powell, Media Relations & Communications Specialist at kpowell@markham.ca.
CAMA: Wayne Knorr, APR, Communications, 506-474-3389, wayne.knorr@fredericton.ca

About Markham: Markham, an award-winning municipality with more than 353,000 residents and the largest of nine communities in York Region, is home to over 650 headquartered companies and more than 1,500 high tech and life science companies. Markham is a leader in attracting foreign direct investment with more than 234 foreign companies located in the City. Founded in the 1790s, today Markham is Canada’s most diverse community and enjoys a rich heritage, outstanding community planning and services, and a vibrant local economy. 

About the Willis Award for Innovation: The Willis Award for Innovation, awarded in recognition of Jack Willis for his contributions to the CAMA, recognizes programs, projects of services that demonstrate new approaches to leading, facilitating, or administering which result in positive changes to local government processes and practices, and ultimately bringing outstanding benefits to the organization and the community.

About CAMA: The Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators is a national, non-profit association open to all Cheif Administrative Officers / City Managers and any person employed in a senior management position that reports directly to the CAO. CAMA has a membership of approximately 650 City Managers, Chief Administrative Officers and senior appointed officals from all parts of Canada. https://www.camacam.ca/
 

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