06) THE VOTER SUPPRESSION CASE

People's Voice Editorial

     Relegated to the back pages by the mainstream corporate media, Canada's 2011 electoral scandal continues to unfold. The Council of Canadians, for example, has given support to a court case challenging the results in seven ridings which saw extensive reports of electoral fraud and voter suppression. This case is scheduled to be heard on December 10, despite desperate attempts to derail the proceedings by lawyers for the seven Conservative candidates.

     The information revealed so far makes it clear that this scandal goes far beyond Guelph, pointing to widespread attempts to influence the outcome in other ridings.

     As pointed out by democracy activist Christopher Majka, based on information from Ekos Research, there appear to have been greater efforts to manipulate voters in these seven ridings, compared to others across the country. This includes "statistically significant" attempts to misdirect voters to "changed" polling stations - highly suspicious, since only one poll was actually moved in the seven ridings during the campaign. The number of "harassing" phone calls was also higher in the seven ridings.      Even more telling, the research indicates that supporters of the NDP, Liberals and Greens were much more likely to be the targetted than Conservative-leaning voters. Our view - shared by many observers - is that this evidence points to a pattern of illegal acts on behalf of the Tories.

     Would Stephen Harper have won a majority anyway? Perhaps, but we will never know. A bigger question is whether the 2011 campaign was a test run for U.S.-style voter suppression on a much larger scale in the next election. Unless those who committed these illegal acts are found and punished, right up to the highest levels, electoral fraud could decide the 2015 federal campaign, with tragic long-term results for Canadian working people.

(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)