This Democracy-In-The-News post is coming to you guys a little late – I have unfortunately been out of commission for a few weeks and have fallen behind. The good news is, it’s a good week to write three posts on Democracy in the News, as plenty seems to be happening in the world.
I figured I’d kick off my catch-up-blogging by discussing the recent voter suppression controversy that has been dominating the news. This issue is, obviously, incredibly pertinent to our class material. Voter suppression would be a serious infringement on the freedoms that are inherent to a “true democracy”, as outlined by basically every measure of democracy discussed in this class. This particular blog post will discuss this article in the Vancouver Sun. For those of you who don’t know – though I am sure you all do – voters in certain districts reported receiving phone calls sending them to incorrect (or non-existant) polling stations. In the article, MP Pat Martin is quoted discussing the fundamental freedom of free and fair elections – and, importantly within that quote, free and fair elections “without interference”. The article makes reference to the illegality of interference in the Elections Act, although (irritatingly) did not provide a link or reference a specific section of the act in which it says this.
Thank goodness for google, I found it here, under provision 281(g), stating:
No person shall, inside or outside of Canada, willfully prevent or endeavour to prevent an elector from voting at an election.
It may seem obvious enough to us in a democratic system, but pending the results of an investigation into this situation, this country may be in need of a reminder.
If this sort of thing interests you, i urge you to watch the documentary Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ7j7Gv-s5g
Basically shows how in Florida, thousands of democratic voters were systematically removed from the registered voter list because their names were slightly similar to non-eligible convicts. American media sickens me because this was barely even an issue covered by the news at the time. Meanwhile in Canada, robocalls is all we talk about (aboot). Anyways, its short, less than an hour. Really makes u wonder what the world would be like today if Bush hand’t stolen that election. My guess is better.