Elections Canada Lobbies For Test Of Online Voting
Internet and social media prompt look at reforming election laws
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The head of the agency in charge of federal elections says it's time to modernize Canada's elections, including testing online voting and ending a ban on publishing early election results.
In a report on the May 2 election, released Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand writes about his plan to test online voting and encourages parliamentarians to update the Elections Act.
Improvements to the electoral process, Mayrand writes, will depend on changes to the law.
"Elections Canada has reached a point where the limited flexibility of the current legislation no longer allows us to meet the evolving needs of electors and candidates," Mayrand reports. "We look forward to working with parliamentarians as we prepare for the 42nd general election."
Mayrand says he's allowed to carry out studies on alternative voting methods, subject to approval by the committee on procedure and House affairs.
"Elections Canada has been examining internet voting as a complementary and convenient way to cast a ballot. The chief electoral officer is committed to seeking approval for a test of internet voting in a byelection held after 2013."
The rise of social media makes it harder to enforce a ban on publishing election results before polls close in other regions, Mayrand writes.
"The growing use of social media puts in question not only the practical enforceability of the rule, but also its very intelligibility and usefulness in a world where the distinction between private communication and public transmission is quickly eroding. The time has come for Parliament to consider revoking the current rule."
The report also says Parliament needs to take another look at third-party advertising rules, pointing out the blurring lines between advertising and non-advertising with social media and other technology. Parliament may want to exclude all third-party internet-based communications from the law, Mayrand says, "except perhaps communications placed for a fee by the originator on another site."
The report suggests MPs and senators should also look at online nominations, including electronic signatures, mobile advance polls for rural and remote areas, and making poll staffing and tasks more flexible.
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Technology has been in place to do this for years and it's long overdue. For years we've been filing our taxes, we've been doing the census, it's a no brainer to have voting available online. We've always been able to vote by mail and setting up a system for online voting can be much more secure.
With the last election having the worst voter turnout in history, anything to make it easier to get the vote out is welcome by me.
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Originally Posted by ehMax
Technology has been in place to do this for years and it's long overdue. For years we've been filing our taxes, we've been doing the census, it's a no brainer to have voting available online. We've always been able to vote by mail and setting up a system for online voting can be much more secure.
With the last election having the worst voter turnout in history, anything to make it easier to get the vote out is welcome by me.
Not true. The last election had a turnout of 61.1%. The election in 2008 had the worst turnout at 58.8%.
I also don't think making it easier to vote will necessarily make for a greater turn out. When you look at the percentages going back to Confederation, some of the greatest turnouts were in an era when it would have been much more difficult to get out and vote than it is today, e.g. 1900 77.4%. So logically I don't see the ease of getting to cast your vote as being a motivator to vote. I think the motivation to vote is engagement with politics and that isn't something that being able to vote on line is going to change in people.
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Last edited by screature; Aug 18th, 2011 at 10:27 AM.
I think that controlled constituencies could be set up and tested. With the technology today, it should be possible. Our city held a plebiscite by sending out an individual verification code by mail to each taxpayer and allowed me to vote by entering that code before submitting my vote. It worked well and voter turnout was over 60% compared to a norm of about 38% in past similar events. This done two years ago.
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I think that controlled constituencies could be set up and tested. With the technology today, it should be possible. Our city held a plebiscite by sending out an individual verification code by mail to each taxpayer and allowed me to vote by entering that code before submitting my vote. It worked well and voter turnout was over 60% compared to a norm of about 38% in past similar events. This done two years ago.
If there were allegations of voter fraud, how would they verify each voter's intention? There would be no record of the actual vote, other than the one that is being contested. If you go back and ask each voter what their intention was, then they could now change their vote based on the results of the election--changing local strategic votes based on national or provincial results for example.
Likewise, whereas it's possible to pay someone to enter a voter booth and vote on your behalf, it would be much easier to buy voter codes for $10 a pop.
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A possibility, but that is assuming the vast majority of voters are not honest, something I very much doubt. I would welcome such a system and take steps to ensure my code was kept safe.
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