Canada: Ranked ballot voting moves closer to reality in Toronto | CTV

A new initiative looking to adopt a ranked ballot system to Toronto’s electoral system just got one step closer to approval at Queen’s Park on Thursday. Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter tabled a private member’s bill that would allow Toronto to adopt a ranked voting system – where voters rank candidates in order of preference – instead of the current “first-past-the post” system. Bill 166 passed second reading on Thursday afternoon and will now be sent to the legislature’s social policy committee for further study.

Canada: Conservative bill may ‘compromise’ elections, Marc Mayrand says | Toronto Star

The man in charge of elections in Canada has warned the Conservative government that voters are going to be turned away from ballot boxes in significant numbers in 2015 and that the new “Fair Elections Act” may create real unfairness among the political players. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand was blunt when he spoke to one of the lead Conservative MPs during an often-testy Commons committee meeting on Thursday. “In the next election, if those rules go through, you will see in your riding how many people will be sent away,” Mayrand told MP Tom Lukiwski. “And that will be an issue.”

Canada: NDP site the weak link in online attack during 2012 leadership vote | CBC News

An online attack that delayed the results of the NDP’s 2012 leadership vote succeeded because it hit the party’s website, not the site of the company running the online vote, a company representative says. The voting that chose Tom Mulcair as the New Democratic Party’s leader was besieged by a “distributed denial of service” attack, which bombards a server with repeated attempts at communication to try to slow it down or crash it altogether. The process was delayed by several hours and left many delegates complaining they couldn’t access the site to cast their ballots. At the time, neither the NDP, nor Scytl, the company that provided the online voting service, would explain beyond saying it was a denial of service attack. But Scytl representatives now say the attack hit the NDP’s website and that its own technology was never compromised.

Canada: Elections Bill Would Give Incumbents Too Much Power, Expert Warns | CBC

Harry Neufeld, who wrote a report on problems in the last federal election, is warning of the potential for more abuse at polling stations if one part of the government’s proposed fair elections act goes ahead. Neufeld, B.C.’s former chief electoral officer and now an independent electoral management consultant, wrote the compliance review that identified polling problems in the 2011 election and made recommendations on how to fix them. He says Section 44 of the government’s new legislation would allow all central polling supervisors to be appointed by a riding’s incumbent candidate or the candidate’s party. “It’s completely inappropriate in a democracy, ” said Neufeld.

Canada: Courts will have to decide if Elections Canada CEO can be ‘muzzled,’ say experts | The Hill Times

Elections Canada and critics of proposed government legislation that will restrict communications between the chief electoral officer and the electorate say the measure will also limit information the chief electoral officer will be able to distribute to news media. A source told The Hill Times the electoral agency remains concerned despite assurances Minister of State for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) made on a political talk show that he was open to amending a section of the legislation, Bill C-23, to address Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand’s concerns. And Ottawa lawyer Steven Shrybman, an expert on Canada’s electoral law who represented voters in a Federal Court challenge of results from the 2011 federal election, said the statement from Mr. Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) will have no effect unless the government eliminates the section entirely.

Canada: Private member’s bills would open door to ranked ballot voting in Toronto | CTV

Provincial lawmakers are poised to consider two private member’s bills that could bring a landmark change to the way Torontonians elect their mayor and councillors. The duelling bills tabled by Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter and NDP MPP Jonah Schein, who both represent Toronto ridings, would give the city the option of switching to a ranked choice ballot system, starting with the 2018 municipal election. If MPPs give their blessing to one of the bills, the change would not be automatic. The final say would rest with city council. The bills are not carbon copies of each other but they both have the same aim – to allow Toronto to replace its traditional electoral system, if it chooses, with ranked balloting. Hunter, who represents Scarborough-Guildwood, is tabling her bill – the Toronto Ranked Ballot Elections Act – Wednesday afternoon at Queen’s Park. “We live in a diverse city and the way we elect our municipal representatives should reflect that,” Hunter told reporters at a news conference before she tabled the bill.

Canada: Independent panel’s study suggests idea for online voting be pulled offline | Nanaimo News Bulletin

A year-long study by the Independent Panel on Internet Voting has concluded the province of British Columbia and its municipalities are ready for online voting. The panel was formed in August 2012 by the chief electoral officer at the behest of the B.C. attorney general and met 13 times between September 2012 and October 2013 to examine pros and cons of Internet-based voting. The panel’s findings, released in a report earlier this month, said potential benefits of online voting include providing greater accessibility and convenience for B.C. voters, especially for people with disabilities, and the possibility of improving voter turnout, but the report also mentioned inherent security risks in spite of the fact that Internet transactions for banking, shopping, and government services are widespread and growing.

Canada: New elections act could pull plug on federal online voting experiments | Edmonton Journal

A provision in the Conservative government’s new elections act will limit the ability of Elections Canada to experiment with online voting — a limit the Opposition argues will suppress the votes of young people who are less likely to vote Tory than older demographics. “The only reason for this has to be singling out a reform that the Conservatives have particular problems with,” NDP Democratic Reform Critic Craig Scott said. “E-voting is something they know appeals to younger generations, which is not necessarily their voting cohort.”

Canada: NDP wants to force consultation on ‘unfair’ election law changes | CBC

The New Democrats are forcing a debate in the House over whether to hold cross-Canada consultations on the government’s proposed changes to federal election laws. The party is using its opposition day, a day set aside for it to set the subject of debate in the House, to present a motion that would instruct the procedure and House affairs committee to travel the country and seek input from Canadians. NDP Deputy Leader David Christopherson called the Conservatives a “serial-cheating government” that’s trying to “pre-cheat” the next election through the proposed changes. New Democrat MP Craig Scott called the bill the “unfair elections act,” playing off the government’s title for the bill, the fair elections act.

Canada: Bill would end Elections Canada vote drives | The Star Phoenix

Among the controversial proposals in the Conservative government’s proposed Fair Elections Act is one to eliminate Elections Canada campaigns encouraging Canadians to vote – no matter who for. Pierre Poilievre, federal minister of state for democratic reform, says Elections Canada’s out reach campaigns – which began in 2003 in response to decades of declining voter turnout, particularly among young voters – have failed to combat the troubling trend. “I am not arguing that Elections Canada’s advertising drives turnout down,” Poilievre said in an email to Postmedia News on Wednesday. “Rather, it fails to drive turnout up, because it does not address the practical obstacles that prevent many from voting.”

Canada: Conservatives’ proposed election reform prompts note of caution from the U.S. | Toronto Star

A participant in the bruising American battle over voting rights warns that Canada is treading on dangerous ground with its proposed electoral reforms. One of the lawyers who helped strike down the voter ID law in Pennsylvania last month says legislation tabled by the Harper government will inevitably wind up depriving some people of their voting rights. That’s why any change to voting requirements should be made with the strictest care, in the spirit of achieving more accurate election results, said Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union for Pennsylvania. That warning comes from a country where voting rights are an especially emotional subject, for obvious historical reasons. Americans know the issue well. And the impact of ID rules has been studied extensively, re-emerging in recent years as a hotly debated partisan issue. Multiple academic studies point to an impact on turnout, especially among specific demographic groups: the young, the poor, and minorities.

Canada: Hold off on Internet voting: B.C.’s chief electoral officer | the Province

Provincial and municipal governments should not implement Internet voting until a technical committee can study potential online systems and test security concerns, a panel formed by B.C.’s chief electoral officer recommended. The recommendations were submitted to the legislature by the Independent Panel on Internet Voting, which stated in its report that the current risks of implementing Internet voting in the province outweigh the benefits. “The panel recommends to go slow on Internet voting in British Columbia,” Keith Archer, the chief electoral officer, said in a news release. “British Columbians must have confidence that their voting system is fair and trustworthy.”

Canada: Panel says now not the time for Internet voting; more study is needed | GlobalPost

Provincial and municipal governments should not implement Internet voting until a technical committee can study potential online systems and test security concerns, a panel formed by B.C.’s chief electoral officer recommended Wednesday. The recommendations were submitted to the legislature by the Independent Panel on Internet Voting, which stated in its report that the current risks of implementing Internet voting in the province outweigh the benefits. “The panel recommends to go slow on Internet voting in British Columbia,” Keith Archer, the chief electoral officer said in a news release. “British Columbians must have confidence that their voting system is fair and trustworthy.” The panel states that those who administer elections don’t have the technical expertise to evaluate voting systems, so the committee which would study the systems should include experts in Internet voting, cryptography and computer security.

Canada: Tories open to hearings, amending controversial electoral reform bill | GlobalPost

The Harper government is signalling a willingness to hold extensive hearings and entertain amendments to its controversial proposals for overhauling Canada’s election laws. However, it is so far drawing the line at conducting cross-country hearings, although it has agreed to at least reconsider the idea. Tom Lukiwski, parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, took the conciliatory approach Tuesday as the procedure and House affairs committee met to determine the process for studying Bill C-23. “This is a big bill … Our suggestion will be to give it probably as much time as needed,” Lukiwski said on his way into the meeting, which was held primarily behind closed doors. He also said Conservative MPs are “going to be open” to some “reasonable” amendments to the bill.

Canada: Elections Canada under fire | The Chronicle Herald

Conservative MPs took several shots Monday at Elections Canada as the House of Commons moved the government’s controversial election reform bill closer to law. The Conservative majority in the House passed Bill C-23 through second reading after a 152-128 vote. A committee of MPs will study it before it returns for final debate. Opposition parties argue the 242-page bill tilts election rules in favour of the Conservatives and muzzles the chief electoral officer. The government says its bill will prevent fraud and lead to stronger enforcement of election violations. During hours of debate Monday, Conservative MPs depicted Elections Canada as biased against them. “Elections Canada lets the Liberals off and threatens to put my volunteers in prison,” said Cambridge-North Dumfries MP Gary Goodyear.

Canada: Election reform bill an affront to democracy, Marc Mayrand says | CBC

The government’s proposed overhaul of the Elections Act includes elements that constitute an affront to democracy, according to Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand. In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House, Mayrand said “my reading of the act is that I can no longer speak about democracy in this country.” “I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy,” Mayrand told host Evan Solomon. Under the proposed bill, the only role of the chief electoral officer would be to inform the public of when, where, and how to vote. Elections Canada would be forbidden from launching ad campaigns encouraging Canadians to vote. Surveys and research would be forbidden under the new bill, Mayrand said. “Most of the research will no longer be published because these are communications to the public.” The chief electoral officer and the commissioner of Canada elections would also no longer be allowed to publish their reports, Mayrand said. “These reports will no longer be available. In fact, not only not available. I don’t think it will be done at all.”

Canada: MPs need more time to study major overhaul to elections laws, NDP says | The Globe and Mail

The Conservative government is facing a battle from the NDP Thursday over its efforts to end the first round of debate on legislation that would dramatically rewrite federal election law. Government House Leader Peter Van Loan has signalled he will table a motion to force an end to initial debate over C-23, the Fair Elections Act. The next stage of deliberation would see the legislation head to a committee for scrutiny. Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats are trying to delay this, saying MPs deserve more time to speak on the legislation.

Canada: Expats in court to challenge voting rights law | Toronto Star

An Ontario judge was urged Monday to consider whether the historical reasoning for a law that strips some expatriates of their voting rights makes sense in today’s world. The request came from a lawyer for two Canadians who are challenging the rule that affects citizens living abroad for more than five years. “The most critical thing is to look at whether these provisions are constitutional now, considering the current context of globalization and the way people travel around the world and are able to stay connected,” said Shaun O’Brien. “Lots of things existed in voting legislation that we no longer accept . . . . The fact that historically the nature of our system requires residence doesn’t meant that residence is required now.”

Canada: New election law to crack down on robocalls, voter fraud | The Record

Canada’s election law is getting a major overhaul, aimed at making it tougher to play on the dirty-tricks side of the political game. A crackdown on automated “robocalls” and voter fraud are among the measures contained in the 242-page bill unveiled Tuesday by Democratic Reform minister Pierre Poilievre. And in what’s being widely viewed as a rebuke to Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, the Conservatives have taken away his oversight of investigations into election-law abuse. The commissioner of elections, who conducts those probes, will now report to Canada’s director of public prosecutions, who has an arm’s-length relationship with government and political entities. “What we are doing is making sure that office has full independence,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the Commons on Tuesday. Poilievre said the change gives Canada a new breed of political-crimes investigator — one with “sharper teeth, a longer reach and a freer hand.”

Canada: Tories’ bill strips Elections Canada of power to promote voter turnout | The Globe and Mail

The Conservative government is stripping Elections Canada of its authority to encourage Canadians to vote in federal ballots under changes to the agency’s mandate. Legislation tabled this week sets out restrictions on what information the chief electoral officer can provide the public, limiting it to five matter-of-fact topics related to how to vote or become a candidate.party-donation limit. The Conservative bill will remove parts of Section 18 of the Elections Act that give the chief electoral officer the authority to provide the public with information on “the democratic right to vote” and to “make the electoral process better known to the public, particularly to those persons and groups most likely to experience difficulties in exercising their democratic rights.” Voter turnout in the 2011 federal election – slightly more than 61 per cent of eligible voters – was among the lowest in this country’s history.

Canada: Court urged to reconsider law around stripping voting rights from some expats | CTV News

An Ontario judge was urged Monday to consider whether the historical reasoning for a law which strips some expatriates of their voting rights makes sense in today’s world. The request came from a lawyer for two Canadians who are challenging the rule which affects citizens living abroad for more than five years. “The most critical thing is to look at whether these provisions are constitutional now, considering the current context of globalization and the way people travel around the world and are able to stay connected,” said Shaun O’Brien. “Lots of things existed in voting legislation that we no longer accept…The fact that historically the nature of our system requires residence doesn’t meant that residence is required now.” At the heart of the case being heard in Ontario Superior Court this week are the experiences of Gillian Frank and Jamie Duong. Both men moved to the U.S. for higher education and stayed on as their studies led to jobs, but both plan to move back home as soon as they find appropriate employment in their fields.

Canada: Law that strips certain Canadian expats of voting rights to be debated in court | The Globe and Mail

Two Canadians who are challenging a law that strips voting rights from expatriates who have lived abroad for more than five years expect their case to be heard in court this week. Gillian Frank and Jamie Duong, who live in the U.S., were shocked to learn of the five-year rule when they tried to cast their ballots in the 2011 federal election. In an effort to combat what they see as an affront on their citizenship, the pair launched a legal challenge against the federal government nearly two years ago, arguing the rule in the Canada Elections Act is arbitrary, unreasonable and should be struck down as unconstitutional. “Having a say in the government, having my full citizenship reinstated is absolutely vital to me,” Frank told The Canadian Press in an interview ahead of the three-day hearing, which begins Monday in Ontario Superior Court. “I believe the Canadian government continues to affect me and it will affect me when I return home one day.” Frank, a history professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, moved to the U.S. in 2001 to get his PhD and stayed on as his studies led to a job.

Canada: Newmarket rejects Internet voting | York Region

Newmarket will take paper over getting plugged in during October’s municipal election. Council rejected a staff recommendation that called on the municipality to authorize the use of Internet voting in time for the election, meaning traditional paper ballots will be used, instead of the online method. “I don’t think the confidence of the community is there yet,” Mayor Tony Van Bynen said. Councillors want the issue addressed early in the next term, giving plenty of time for implementation in the 2018 election.

Canada: Toronto studies internet voting | Metro

Toronto is working on a system to let people with disabilities vote over the Internet, but members of the disabled community are urging the city to provide that option to all eligible voters. “There’s no reason to create a system just for people with disabilities,” said John Rae, a board member of ARCH Disability Law Centre. “If we’re going to start Internet voting, it should be available to all citizens,” said Rae, who is blind. … While increasing participation is a worthy goal, Councillor David Shiner said he’s concerned about voter fraud. “The concern with Internet voting is knowing who’s really on the other end,” said Shiner. “I’m really concerned about abuses.” Shiner doesn’t think traditional voting at a polling place isn’t that onerous since it’s usually only a short walk. “Making a small effort to get out to a polling station isn’t too much to ask,” said Shiner, chair of council’s government management committee.

Canada: Niagara-on-the-Lake rejects Internet voting plan | WBFO

Voters in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario will still head to the polls in October to vote rather than pull out their smart phones or laptops. Some votes may have switched Monday night as councilors debated a plan to head towards voting on the Web this fall. There would have been two-regular polling places but most voters would have used their computer systems.

Canada: Waterloo rejects online voting | The Record

City council voted unanimously Monday not to use online voting in next year’s municipal election. Council heard from the community in presentations and correspondence on the issue. Urs Hengartner, associate professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo, studies secure voting systems. In a letter to council, he expressed concern about the security of an online voting system. “Internet voting introduces even more risks, such as computer viruses, denial-of-service attacks, or vote buying or selling,” he said. “On the other hand, the claimed advantage of internet voting, higher voter turnout, still needs to be proven in practice, and results so far have been mixed.”

Canada: Liberals pour cold water on Mayor Rob Fords call for snap election | GlobalPost

Ontario’s Liberal government made it clear Monday it was not open to a request from embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford for a snap municipal election so voters can decide if he should be booted out of office after admitting he smoked crack cocaine. “It’s not something we’re considering at the moment,” Municipal Affairs Minister Linda Jeffrey told reporters. “We’re not considering changing the electoral period that members sit. It’s not something we’re contemplating.” The province probably wouldn’t be open to changing the election date even if the request comes from the entire Toronto city council, added Jeffrey. Mayor Ford himself has spoken out against the cost of special elections, noted Finance Minister Charles Sousa. “The antics that are occurring in Toronto are distressing and concerning, but the last thing we want is for more disruption,” said Sousa. “Council has a job to do, let them do it, and we’ll wait to see when the next general election occurs in October.” Premier Kathleen Wynne has repeatedly said she wants city council to deal with Ford, and would step in only if there is a specific request from the city, and only if all three parties in the legislature approved any provincial action.

Canada: Candidates have until Monday to request a recount | Montreal Gazette

Montreal’s elections office issued the official results of Sunday’s municipal elections on Tuesday afternoon, which means the period for requesting official recounts has begun. After a municipal election, officials double-check that the ballot counts filled in on forms at each polling station correspond to the numbers that were reported to the Elections Montreal office by telephone immediately after counting the votes at each polling office, Elections Montreal spokesperson Pierre G. Laporte said. The process takes a couple of days, at which point the official election results are posted, he said.

Canada: Online ballots fizzle | Prince George Citizen

Elections B.C. will kick the idea around for a bit longer and is open to hearing more, but it looks as if Internet voting isn’t going anywhere. Security isn’t foolproof, as it needs to be. Cost savings are debatable, and it would likely actually wind up costing more. And most critically, there is no conclusive proof it would help increase the turnout rate in elections. That was one of the background motivations for considering the idea in the first place. The participation rate has been declining for a generation now. It ticked upward a couple of points in last May’s election, compared to the 2009 vote. But it is still scarcely more than half, which is abysmal. The idea that Internet voting could fix that is founded on a faulty premise. Experts have been trying to figure out the slumping turnout rate for years. Various authorities have delved deeply into it by all means possible, including polling non-voters on the reasons they opted out.

Canada: B.C. isn’t ready for Internet voting: report | Vancouver Sun

Internet voting requires more fine tuning – especially when it comes to eliminating security risks – before it can be widely used in provincial and municipal elections, says an independent report released Wednesday by British Columbia’s elections agency. The report, produced by a panel appointed by Elections BC, also warns that online voting may not necessarily lead to higher voter turnout and cheaper elections. The 100-page report concludes it is still too early to move to Internet voting in B.C., including for next year’s municipal elections, with security remaining the top barrier. “At the current time, we’re not there yet for universal Internet voting,” B.C.’s chief electoral officer, Keith Archer, told a news conference in Victoria. “The overall conclusion that people will likely draw from this report is it’s cautionary. It suggests that there are still lots of challenges to be worked out in the application of Internet voting in a public election in B.C.”