Fraud and reduced public confidence in the electoral system could result if voter information cards are used as valid ID at the polls, lawyers for the federal government argued in court Friday. The government is fighting an injunction request to suspend a key identification provision in its Fair Elections Act. The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students are asking the court to restore the power of Canada’s chief electoral officer to recognize voter information cards as one form of valid ID — a power taken away in the act — in time for the fall election.
Government lawyer Christine Mohr said in court there is “a long history of concern” over the use of voter information cards. Questions over security, reliability and incidents of misuse and fraud prompted changes the Harper government made to voter identification laws last year, she said.
Mohr warned that ineligible voters could cast a ballot using the cards as one form of ID and the public’s confidence in the electoral system as a whole would be diminished.
Full Article: Voter ID cards not enough at ballot box, government argues | Toronto Star.