Liberals put forward bill to curb long ballots in elections
OTTAWA — The Liberal government is taking action to curtail the super-sized ballots seen in recent elections as part of a sweeping elections security bill.
Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, includes provisions to close nomination loopholes that electoral-reform protest group the Longest Ballot Committee has used, in recent years, to flood high-profile races with frivolous candidates.
“We are… addressing the issue of unduly long ballots, which pose accessibility barriers and are very disruptive to voters, candidates and election workers,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said on Thursday in comments to the media.
The bill would prohibit individuals from acting as the official agent for more than one candidate per riding. It would also make it so that individual voters can only sign one candidate’s nomination papers per election cycle.
A government official briefing members of the media on the bill’s contents said it captures seven of eight recommendations put forward this week by a House of Commons committee studying the actions of the Longest Ballot Committee in recent election cycles. The one recommendation not captured is a suggestion that Elections Canada add written disclaimers to candidate nomination papers stating that it is an offence to sign more than one candidate’s nomination paper.
While the bill’s full text was not released as of Thursday afternoon, officials said it will set out penalties for collecting signatures on a nomination paper before a candidate’s name has been written on it.
Ryan Davies, a co-host of right-leaning web series Northern Perspective submitted video evidence to the House of Commons purporting to show members of the Longest Ballot Committee circulating a nomination sheet with no name on it, a claim the organization denies.
The bill sets out fines for noncompliance of up to $25,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a political party or other entity, varying based on the frequency and severity of offences.
Longest Ballot Committee spokesman Tomas Szuchewycz said he wouldn’t comment on the bill before reading its exact wording, but reiterated his group’s position that elected officials should recuse themselves from matters surrounding the administration of elections.
“When politicians are in charge of their own election rules, reforms good and bad will always be met with suspicion, said Szuchewycz. “This is precisely why we advocate that politicians recuse themselves from deciding election law and pass responsibility to a permanent, independent and nonpartisan body, such as a citizens’ assembly.”
Szuchewycz, who is also the committee’s official agent, has acted as the agent for hundreds of protest candidates since the group’s formation in 2021, including more than 200 candidates in last summer’s byelection in Battle River —Crowfoot, Alta., won by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Bonnie Critchley, who ran as in independent in the Battle River —Crowfoot byelection, finishing second, said she approved of the “one agent, one candidate” part of the bill but not the measure restricting voters from signing more than one set of nomination papers.
“People who may be undecided voters would be limited to supporting a single candidate before the campaign even begins,” said Critchley. “This will make it extremely difficult for independent candidates to get the required signatures, and limits viable alternatives within an election.”
The current nomination rules require prospective candidates to collect at least 100 signatures from voters living within the boundaries of the riding where they want to run.
The bill will not affect the upcoming April 13 byelection in Terrebonne, Que., where the ballot has already swelled to 48 candidates thanks to the group’s intervention.
National Post
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