Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Elections watchdog Marc Mayrand says trust in electoral system damaged

OTTAWA - Elections watchdog Marc Mayrand says it's critical that trust be restored in Canada's electoral system.

The chief electoral officer acknowledges confidence in the system has been shaken by a recent court ruling overturning the election result in one Toronto riding, and by the so-called robocall scandal.

On the latter, Mayrand says Elections Canada has now received 1,100 complaints from voters claiming to have received calls directing them to phoney polling locations during last spring's election.

Elections Canada's budget is being cut by eight per cent, forcing the agency to put off some plans, such as a pilot project on Internet voting, and focus only on its highest priorities.

One of the highest, Mayrand says, will be training elections officials and ensuring that all procedural requirements are followed on voting day.

Procedural errors by elections officials resulted in a court recently overturning the election result in Toronto's Etobicoke Centre.

Original Article
Source: winnipeg free press
Author: CP

No comments:

Post a Comment