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Facebook vote swapping group deemed "legal" by Elections Canada

by Tina Kells | September 29, 2008 at 12:24 pm | 455 views | 6 comments | 8 recommendations

Vote-Swapping and "Canadians are stupid"?

A Facebook vote swapping group, the Anti-Harper Vote Swap, has been deemed legal by Elections Canada. The group first popped up on Facebook shortly after the election was announced, and quickly grew in numbers, to more than 5,000 this week. The group encourages people in tightly contested ridings to swap votes in order bolster their Party's numbers in Parliament.

Vote swapping works like this; a voter in a hotly contested riding between a Liberal and a Tory candidate, swaps votes with an NDP supporter in a different riding where the NDP and Tory candidates are neck-and-neck. By swapping, it is hoped that the NDP will win in one riding, the Liberals in another, and the Tories will lose in both,effectively diluting Conservative authority in government.

Questions were raised by Mat Savelli of Hamilton, Ontario, about the legality of the scheme, which caused Elections Canada to look into the matter. Last week, Elections Canada declared the practice of "vote swapping" to be legal, but issued a warning for people who are thinking of trading their vote.

James Hale, a spokesman for the federal agency, said the act of encouraging someone to vote in a particular way is allowed under the Elections Act.

It's also acceptable for people to invite voters to participate in an organized strategic voting plan, whether on the internet or through other means, he said.

But, he said, "electors should be cautious for a couple of reasons."

Voters could potentially be misled by someone acting under a false identity who tricks them into voting a particular way, which would be an offence under the Elections Act.

Since people cast ballots alone in a voting booth, it is also difficult to verify whether they actually voted as promised.

Also, the agency warned, it is illegal for money or "material benefit" to pass hands as part of a voting arrangement.

"It's not an offence to tell your friend you think they should vote in a certain way, and it's not an offence to say 'Yeah, I think that's a great idea.' It is an offence to accept money or to offer money for that," said Hale.

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René

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:44 on September 29th, 2008

Wow, could we use that in the States?

yuls.source

at 14:06 on September 29th, 2008

I am amazed stuff like this is happening in Canada.

Marcel Pellerin

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:53 on September 29th, 2008

Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff. down with Harper!

moonwolf

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:36 on September 29th, 2008

Tina Kells,

That's great! Maybe Harper's arrogance will come around and bite him! I hope so. Then we can put him and his Big Brother George on the same boat outta here!

Somejerk (not verified)

at 07:14 on September 30th, 2008

Moonbat,

Socialism (Liberals and NDP fall into this category) demands that people work for the good of 'society', often without direct benefit to themselves and sometimes at considerable personal cost. The result, more often than not, is that people work as little as possible, take no interest in the results of their work, or try to subvert the system so that it benefits them personally, often to the detriment of society. This is why inefficiency, lethargy and corruption are endemic in all socialist countries. Keep trading your votes... you're only destroying and bankrupting your country for your children.