Voter Suppression?

 

It seems that everything that happens in America happens in Canada a little while after.  Which is a good thing when it comes to things like chicken sandwiches, but, it also makes me shudder.  On this day, when we are giving thanks, one of the things we are giving thanks for is that we are not America.  

The one thing I never thought we would have to deal with is voter suppression.  Let's face it, we don't even understand what that means.  I have worked on election day in two different provinces in all three levels of government.  I take the day off from my regular job and work a 12-14 hour day without a break for little money and it is always a great day.  You meet the best people.  People who show up to vote are generally hopeful and happy.  It is pure joy.  It takes some training to work in an election.  The training is about how to make sure every vote is counted.  Much of the training has to do with what happens if a person shows up without a voter registration card wanting to vote.  Every level of government is about ensuring that everyone qualified to vote can vote.  If you want to vote, we likely have a form for that.  And, the only real qualifications are that you are an adult and you are a citizen.  

When I haven't worked on election day, I have been volunteering on someone's campaign.  As a human, I keep evolving as do my political views.  So, if it has been a major party, I have carried a membership and worked towards getting them elected.  It doesn't matter what party or candidate I have worked for, no one discussed discouraging people from voting.  The only thing that would come close would be a realistic analysis knowing that one particular district may vote 100% for an opponent.  No one said let's make it more difficult for them to vote, it was more like we won't waste our energy here and we will need to work harder in other areas in order to make up for those votes.  

And, then last night I read an article about concerns with our election process.  There are some groups that are spreading the misinformation that thousands of permanent residents (non-citizens) are voting illegally and influencing elections.  There is no evidence that this happens in any organized fashion.  Every election, it appears there may be a very small amount of permanent residents that vote by accident. They don't have any intention to disrupt the integrity of our electoral process nor are they organized.  Prior to our last federal election a permanent resident living in Alberta accidentally got a voter registration card.  He could have picked up the phone and removed himself quietly from the registration record.  He chose not to do that.  He made a commercial online showing his voter registration card and his driver's licence and said he could vote.  He wasn't going to but he was sounding an alarm that our voting process was in jeopardy because permanent residents were going to vote and "steal" some elections. 

People note that our identification requirements don't make people prove they are a citizen.  There are groups advocating that voter requirements for identification be a Canadian passport.  The problem with that is that a passport cost $120/five years.  Those with unstable income or those who are too cold to travel don't have passports and it might be an unnecessary difficulty to them to have one.  To me, this is just the first way that voter suppression can happen in Canada.  

Also quoted in this article were the Elections Canada unit which was established to monitor social media about elections and to identify possible individuals and groups who were out to interfere with our elections.  

This makes me very sad.  

On this Thanksgiving Day, I have much to be grateful for.  I am grateful that I can empower my grandson to grow up and use his voice.  I am also hopeful that his biggest problems are always having too many toys to play with.