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.]

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Fair Elections Act: Activists Plan Court Challenge To 'Anti-Democratic' Law

OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students will ask the courts to overturn parts of the Harper government's Fair Elections Act.

The two groups and three individual electors will file their suit in Ontario Superior Court.

They are targeting provisions which make it harder for voters to prove their identity at the polls and reduce the powers and responsibilities of the chief electoral officer.

Council executive director Garry Neil says those provisions violate the equality provisions of the charter, as well as the guaranteed right to vote.

He also says the changes will make the commissioner of elections accountable to partisan interests, not the voters.

Neil says the new identification provisions in the law will especially erode the voting rights of young people, members of First Nations living on reserves, seniors and people with low incomes.

"The measures being challenged are profoundly anti-democratic," Neil said.

The act strikes at voting rights by making it harder for certain voters to mark a ballot, he added.

"It will make it impossible for thousands of electors to prove their address or identity in order to obtain a ballot to vote in the next election. It strips the chief electoral officer of his authority to alert the public and report to Parliament on complaints and investigations into election fraud. It makes the commissioner of Canada elections accountable to the government, rather than to Parliament."

Jessica McCormick of the students federation said the act alienates young people, who are already leery of the system.

"This act constructs additional barriers between young Canadians and their right to vote," she said.

Turnout is grim among younger voters, McCormick noted.

"Only 38 per cent of youth voted in the last federal election," she said. "Our elected representatives should be reaching out to youth and reducing the barriers to voting, rather than creating more."

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: CP | By The Canadian Press

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