Saturday, April 16, 2011

Tories Accused Of Repressing Democracy

There was a controversy on Friday as the Conservative Party was accused of diabolically trying to deny people the right to vote. Ironically this little dust up happened in the same building where I voted for the first time in a federal election, the University Center at the University of Guelph where I voted for Stockwell Day to be the next Prime Minister. On Friday Elections Canada's Guelph office had set up a special ballot voting booth on campus so that students would be able to vote on campus throughout the election. The Conservatives complained that this violated election law, and Elections Canada admitted that the poll was not authorized and violated their own rules. I wonder if they will call the RCMP to raid their Guelph office.

This advance poll made it easier for students to vote at their convenience, but did not extend the same convenience to the rest of the general population. EC has said that the ballots already cast will be valid, but they are going to shut down the special voting booth. What it comes down to is that if you want to set up a mobile poll to run throughout the election in one area, then you should extend that right to all areas (unless we are talking about a care home). Anyone can vote at any time during an election on a special ballot by visiting your local Elections Canada office. There are advance polls where you can vote if you are busy on election day. It is no more difficult for a student to get to a ballot box than a parent with a full-time job. Giving one group more convenience than the other is not equitable treatment.

For Ignatieff to start complaining that we are turning into Egypt is borderline insane. He's opportunistically trying to plug into something that was trending on Twitter a few weeks ago, because Canada is nothing like Egypt in terms of Democracy. This is not a matter of trying to prevent people from voting, it is about having different rules for different groups. There are Conservatives among the student body at the U of G, many at the Agricultural College. But it is true that young people are more likely to vote Liberal, because they are young and lack life experience. People are more likely to become Conservative as they age and begin to understand the world.

There should be a table at the center of every University campus to register people to vote, but there's no reason to have this mobile polling station at the University in the middle of the campaign. If you do, you have to set them up in communities across the polling district (which substantially multiplies the cost of an election). Also, one of the reasons we encourage people to wait until election day to vote is that it is at the end of the campaign. Some people change their minds, and there is an advantage to letting the campaign run its course before everyone votes. You can learn new information. Shouldn't we encourage people to learn as much as possible before they vote?

12 comments:

  1. My reply to any Liberal manufactured "crisis" is...Where's the stolen 42 million and why are crooked Liberal MPs like "Pizza Joe" still sitting as MPs?

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  2. If this was not properly done, can those students go back home and vote again? Everyone needs to go to Elections Canada and file a complaint.

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  3. I would love to see Elections Canada up on criminal charges. Send in the Mounties.

    In order for democracy to work everyone must be treated equally. Therefore you can NOT have random advanced polls for favoured groups.

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  4. Is this what those professors of political science are teaching their students, vote illegally. Guess we need to get out that bottle of purple ink, like they do in Afghanistan.
    Mary T

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  5. The problem is that most students will be back home on May 2nd. Is someone trying to get these students, who vote liberal for some reason, to vote in this close riding? How can EC allow these votes to stand? How can you allow people to vote in a riding where they won't be residing on May 2nd?

    "If you aren't a liberal when you are young then you have no heart. If you aren't a conservative when you are old then you have no brain." Winston Churchill

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  6. There is nothing illegal about "Special Ballots".
    It is not the same as an advance poll.
    It allows voters to register ahead of time,as these students did to qualify for the Special Ballot and to have their vote counted in their home riding.They will not be going home on Easter to vote in their home riding.They have already voted in their home riding.
    Please educate yourselves before spreading 'hatred'.
    You can find it here:Elections Canada Online | Voting by Special Ballot
    http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=bkg&document=ec90540&lang=e

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  7. Liberal definition of democracy: when we are in power we make all the decisions, when you are in power we share power. Get it folks?

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  8. Norma,perhaps you should read this very carefully
    http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=med&document=apr1511&dir=pre&lang=e

    It said that the poll was not pre-authorized by Chief Electoral Officer it also says "Once Elections Canada officials were made aware of the local initiative in Guelph, the returning officer was instructed not to engage in any further activities of a similar nature. All returning officers have received this instruction."

    So I think you should take your own advise before telling others to educate themselves.

    I talked to somebody who was there who told me that there were many illegal things about this poll. Among others, handing out partisan material near the ballot box.

    This line from Elections Canada takes the cake "All information at our disposal indicates that the votes were cast in a manner that respects the Canada Elections Act and are valid."

    I just shows that this organization is corrupt and does not fulfill its mandate. So I ask all of you, do we live in Canada or a third world country where stuffing the ballot box is a common occurrence?

    Rob West
    Ottawa

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  9. Were they addresses checked? Who did the checking? Will they vote in another riding again? Will the ballot box be stuffed? Who is guarding the box? Why were the numbers on the ballot box not matching? To rip off later, stuff, then put the real one on it to match the existing one? Was there any scrutineers around? If their methods were wrong(say election Canada) why will it be counted? Stinkkkkkkkkkkkk.

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  10. Have you noticed how hate monger leftist bigots are the ones who always accuse others of being what they themselves are especially guilty of?

    Have you noticed that corporations owned by leftists say things like “Don’t be evil” at the same time they are continually spying on your online presence and driving around your neighborhood and snapping pictures with their sneaky spy car and stealing any and all information that they can detect, including your passwords?

    You see the leftist louts pull this sort of act again and again. They telegraph what dirty deeds they intend to use. It’s a classic propaganda technique that is used so as to distract and deflect people’s attention away from the fact that that this is exactly what they themselves are doing, or intending on doing. It’s similar to “hiding in plain sight.”

    Having said that, have you also noticed how the Coalition and the media are ranting that the Conservatives are “attacking democracy.”

    This is a precursor to what you can soon expect from then. It is they who are going to attack and undermine democracy and it is they who are emulating Egypt’s Mubarak.

    And by all past experiences and indicators, it seems to appear that they have Elections Canada on their side. Or could it be that the Coalition is the political arm of Elections Canada? It’s like that age old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

    Whatever the answer is, I wouldn’t necessarily presume that the Conservatives winning is going to be enough to form the next government.

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  11. This wasn't a registration station it was a voting station complete with ballot box. This is not allowed. EC said so.

    You would expect something like this in Egypt or Syria. A ballot box stuffing party at a university campus.

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  12. I have a number of deceased relatives who i'm sure would like to vote. Can I just put their names on the voter's list (like the Democrats in Illinois do) or do I have to produce the body?

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