25 March 2014

Statement on the unFair Elections Act

The local riding association of the New Democratic Party is very concerned that the Harper Governments new Fair Elections Act will prevent some Br ce!Grey!"wen #o nd voters from casting a $allot in the %&'( election) Photo *dentification will $e re+ ired at polling stations,voter registration cards or vo ching for yo r neigh$o r will no longer $e accepted) People who are familiar with voting proced resincl ding .anadas .hief Electoral "fficer- /arc /ayrand say this will $e effectively disenfranchise some voters0 those who t rn p witho t the proper photo *D and cannot get home to retrieve it1 elderly people1 st dents whose photo *D shows their home address- not their niversity address1 yo ng voters1 the homeless1 First Nations people1 those str ggling with poverty) As it happens- the latter gro ps do not s ally vote .onservative- $ t we s spect the government 2nows this and that adds to o r concern) 3itold 3alc4a2- legal director of the American .ivil 5i$erties 6nion for Pennsylvania $attled state 7ep $licans attempts to s ppress the vote of certain gro ps in the 6#) He recogni4es the Fair Elections Act as the thin edge of the wedge in .anada) As in the 6#- there is no evidence of voter fra d in .anada) The /inister for Democratic 7eform- Pierre Poilievre- + oted a report $y Harry Ne feld- former .hief Electoral "fficer for B. as proof of widespread voter fra d and therefore the need for restrictions on voter *D) /r) Ne felds report does not say that1 in fact- /r Ne feld is now on record as saying the Government misrepresented his report) Another mem$er of the Government- /P Brad B tt said- in Parliament- that he witnessed people scooping p voter registration cards from an apartment $ ilding) Then- a few days later- he admitted he didnt see it) /isleading Parliament is the same as misleading .anadians and yo co ld $e fo nd in contempt of Parliament for doing it) 3hen the #pea2er r led /r B tt had misled the Ho se and that /r B tts 8mispea29 sho ld $e e:amined in .ommittee- o r /P- 5arry /iller voted against it) *ts not voter fra d we need to worry a$o t,.anadians are generally an honest $ nch) *ts electoral fra d) People can register their displeas re at http0;;saveyo rvote)ca;) See what your Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound NDP is doing: http://www.bgos-ndp.ca/current-issues.html