According to the Council of Canadians, there were 100,000 Canadians who got the chance to vote in 2011 because someone vouched for them. And there were 400,000 Canadians who used voter-information cards to gain access to the ballot box. The council claims that with amendments put in place by Stephen Harper’s government through the Fair Elections Act, those votes could be in jeopardy. The new act does not allow for individuals to vouch for more than one person and it also prohibits the use of voter-information cards.
The council goes further and claims this is deliberate — that the people who relied on these forms of identification are less likely to vote Conservative and thus, suppressing their votes works in the government’s favour.
If that’s an unfair characterization, you would think the Harper government would use its sizeable clout and embark on an information campaign proving the council’s allegation to be false. But so far it hasn’t. And it needs to.
For many, it seems the Harper government talks a good game on the issue of democracy. But it needs to do more to convince Canadians it really values these fundamental standards of democracy, including the right to vote.
Full Article: Another view: Fair Elections Act not so fair.