Chief Electoral Officer Calls for Penalties for Stacked Ballots, Citing Confusion and Delays

Canada's Chief Electoral Officer Calls for Penalties for Stacked Ballots

Stéphane Perrault, Canada's Chief Electoral Officer, has called for penalties for individuals who stack ballots with independent candidates. He argues that this tactic, used by activists as a form of political protest, creates confusion for voters and challenges in counting and processing results.

Perrault explained that candidates for federal ridings must obtain the signatures of 100 voters, or 50 in rural areas. However, some voters are signing for multiple candidates, leading to excessively long ballots. He believes that individuals who choose to protest the electoral system by supporting multiple candidates in this way should be sanctioned.

Perrault cited the recent by-elections in Toronto-St. Paul's and LaSalle-Émard-Verdun as examples. In Toronto-St. Paul's, 84 names were on the ballot, and it took eight hours to announce all the votes. In LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, a record 91 candidates ran, with 21 receiving five or fewer votes each and two receiving no votes at all.

The Longest Ballot Committee, which advocates for electoral reform, has claimed responsibility for many of these additional names. They argue that Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system is flawed and that the party that wins the last election should not be responsible for writing the rules for the next. They believe that an independent body should manage elections to avoid conflicts of interest.

Perrault disagrees with the Longest Ballot Committee's stance on sanctions. He believes that stacking ballots hinders the ability of others to participate in the electoral process and that the Commissioner of Canada Elections should make it an offense to sign for more than one candidate.

He has raised his concerns with parliamentarians while discussing Bill C-65, legislation to amend the Canada Elections Act. He supports a provision to change the number of nominating signatures required for most electoral districts from 100 to 75, but believes that nomination papers should not be rejected or challenged simply because a person has signed someone else's nomination paper.

Perrault emphasizes that while protest in elections is acceptable, using the system to hinder others' participation is unacceptable. He believes that political parties should work together to prevent excessively long ballots from delaying future elections.