Just because the election is over, doesn't mean that we can let this go.
We just experienced the most undemocratic campaign on record, so we have to salvage something from the chaos.
During every federal election campaign issues surface that give rise to complaints to Elections Canada. Sometimes the agency responds to the complaints quickly and very conspicuously. It did so in the just-ended campaign when it confirmed receipt of a Conservative party complaint arising from the special ballot staged at the University of Guelph, and then quickly ruled on the complaint. ..This election saw its share of local matters referred to Elections Canada. On the last day of the campaign alone there were bogus recorded phone calls misdirecting local voters to incorrect polling locations and signage that allegedly skirted federal elections law. Each generated Guelph complaints.I hope we learn the source.
It wouldn’t even surprise many locals if this campaign saw a high-water mark for complaints to the agency arising from electoral goings-on in Guelph. We’re pleased that Guelph MP Frank Valeriote has signalled his intention to follow-up on these matters — with particular emphasis on a few of them.
I'm glad to see someone else pushing this story as well. It was illegal and the people responsible must be identified.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the trail leads all the way to the PMO? I wouldn't be at all surprised. Of course Mr. Micro-manager wouldn't know a thing about it and would find some underling to fire.
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ReplyDeleterepost from Yoga Rani - Many Conservatives used two different names, addresses and telephone numbers, and voted twice. I know at least one person who has bragged about it.
Repost from Janice Gougeon - Can anyone who lives in a small town tell me where your voting stations were? In my town, it was set up on the outskirts of town - no public transit - anyone without a car that lives in town couldn't get out to cast a vote. Just wondering if this was part of a strategy as I live in a Con Town.
Repost from Gxxxx Xxxxxx - Well let me tell you. Not that I'm saying anything untoward happens, but the incumbent gets to supply & approve the majority of the poll clerks and deputy returning officers. Our ballots are all paper & hand counted so..............
repost from Johanna Sommer - The Conservatives were busy in my riding as well... making robocalls on Sunday morning... the Liberal candidate did not make calls on that day, but the Cons faked the calls... knowing that in this riding people do not appreciate calls on a Sunday morning... More slimey behaviour on the part of the Cons and Harper...
repost from Deb Sheppard Lindenas - They canvassed on my street dressed in red jackets and hats. Happened to be out in my driveway and thought I'd chat but they were uncomfortable (probably my large Liberal sign on my lawn) and started to walk away when I approached them. When I joked that I didn't need the literature, I saw they actually had blue Con flyers. On election day I heard what was in the flyers. A photo of Dan McT's house and a real estate listing for a similar house. His wife has a big career and 5 kids. I HATE CON dirty tricks and the stupid judgmental tricks that fool people.
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Reports are coming in from key swing ridings in Ontario and other other provinces that voters are being called at home with false information that their voting locations have changed, and in some instances sending voters an hour in the wrong direction.
http://www.examiner.com/canada-headlines-in-canada/canada-election-hampered-by-false-information-possible-voter-fraud
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At doors I canvassed I kept hearing certain stories about how I spent too much time in Africa, or that my voting presence in the House wasn’t too impressive. When I informed them that I only spent one week a year on that continent (Sudan), and that I take it on my holiday time over New Years and on my own dime, I could sense the hesitation in their voice.
“Oh … that’s not what we heard when the Conservatives phoned us last night.” Something that hadn’t been an issue heretofore was suddenly looming large in the final days. It was frustrating, but I didn’t know who to talk to.
It was only when the election was over that a good Conservative friend informed me that they had actually been utilizing a central office for phone calls and that none of them emanated from London itself. They had poured big money from afar into influencing my riding. What I had thought to be a local campaign had suddenly taken on national dimensions.
http://glenpearson.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/transitions-brutal-in-their-despondency/
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