This beauty was posted on Facebook last night.
Conservative Attempt at Thwarting Democracy in Guelph Advanced Polls ???
Today, while in the middle of voting, there was a big disruption at the polling station. As I was sealing my envelope to place into the ballot box, a guy came up making a huge scene stating that this polling station was illegal and tried to grab for th...e ballot box. He claimed that the station was not affiliated with Elections Canada and that he had talked to a representative from Elections Canada who said that the polling station was illegal. Upon trying to take the ballot box, the people working at the polling station confirmed that an elections representative was coming to check things out, and the guy got on his phone again with someone. The guy and a couple others were asked to stop making a scene and to move off to the side while they figured everything out. A girl that was voting at the same time as me told me she had seen two of the guys at events put on by the Guelph Campus Conservatives, and once researched, it was confirmed that the guy claiming that the polling station was illegal was Michael Sona who is in fact a part of the Guelph Campus Conservatives. The other individual was wearing a blue zip up jacket/sweater, and I do not know his name. I found this to be disruptive and disrespectful, as many students were in the line at the time to vote. It was clearly a LEGAL polling station, as there was Elections Canada, Special Ballot written on all of the documents present. I am unsure of what happened after the calls were made, so if anyone has any other information on this issue, please feel free to add on and please tag as many people as you can- I don't know who I've missed!! This was ridiculous, but don't worry Harper, WE ARE STILL VOTING!!See More
By: Bren Anstett
20 comments:
Um, if it's a legal polling station, wouldn't there be a DRO present?
There isn't an actual advance poll until April 22nd.
See here:
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=vote&document=index&lang=e#advance
So what you've got is a bunch of people together claiming that something is an advance poll, when it isn't -- if it's legal, it's just a bunch of private citizens collecting special ballot applications and special ballots.
***
If people want to vote early, tho', they can just go to their district Elections Canada office during working hours. Might do that today, myself. It's easy and quick; have done it before.
Um. Does it sound illegal to you when people have actual ballots and ballot boxes? Did you get paid for that ridiculous comment.
" It was clearly a LEGAL polling station, as there was Elections Canada, Special Ballot written on all of the documents present."
Ben:
Google is your friend. The special advance poll was set up because students in Guelph won't be there for the advance polls on the 22nd to 24th. Elections Canada was represented.
Lets have the FACTS on 'Ways to vote'
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=vote&document=index&lang=e
If you are in your riding, you can visit your local Elections Canada office and register to vote by special ballot. The special ballot registration deadline is 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26.
Staff will ask you to complete an Application for Registration and Special Ballot form. They will check your form and ask you to show acceptable proof of identity and home address. Once everything is in order, they will give you a special ballot voting kit.
You can vote right there in the office, or take the kit home with you and return your completed special ballot to your local Elections Canada office by the election day deadline on Monday, May 2.
Advance voting takes place on:
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Returning office in Guelph is at:-
Root Plaza
666 Woolwich Street
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 7G5
What seems to escape most eye's is the, "zeal", running through the veins of harperites. Being above the law is a trait that runs from top to bottom.
Pogge: You are correct. Rural: Elections Canada visited Guelph University to facilitate advanced poll dates for students on campus. This is because students, who are eligible to vote by virtue of their residence in the riding, may not be physically present on campus on April 22, 23, or 25. This was facilitated through Elections Canada and it was perfectly legal. Any post-secondary institution could have applied for this. If Conservatives want to take the lazy way out by intimidating students instead of, I don't know, making the effort to sell students their platform, then they have to live with the consequences whatever those may be.
Andrea: I did not mean to imply that Poggie was incorrect, just to let folks know that they can vote at anytime at the returning office. A big Tip O the Hat goes out to all those young folks in Guelph who set a fine example for the rest of Canada!!
Sorry Rural. I meant to type Ben. I need extra coffee this morning. Absolutely, I agree - more people need to vote!
I think Elections Canada needs to send a clear message that they will call the police and charge anyone who tries to interfere with the voting process. Otherwise, this Tory zeal makes me think that maybe we should be issued receipts for our votes. I am becoming concerned about the integrity of the voting process and think it could easily be corrupted if the vote were held online. Kudos to those Guelph students!
Perhaps the poll results are missing all of us who don't have a land-line phone.
Like these admirable students.
If not, at least these goons have shown us what the future will be like in Harperstan.
Nadine: Take your smears elsewhere. There are enough legitimate reasons to oppose Stephen Harper (and I do) without pulling this crap about whether his ancestors may or may not have suffered from mental illness (and I do).
Are Harper and his wife splitting up? I have no idea. And, unlike you, I don't object to him hiding it from us if they are, because it's none of our damned business.
Also, a large number of Canadians belong to religions with extremely retrograde views, including Paul Martin, Jean Chretien, Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark, and Pierre Trudeau (formerly, in the last case, obviously). I wish they wouldn't, but they do. Unless you're going to stand up and say "members of the following religious denominations are unfit to hold public office", judge them by their actions and their positions, not their affiliations.
In summary, go away.
I would add that "Steve hates being a politician, is uncomfortable in groups, really dislikes glad-handing" makes me more likely to support somebody, all else being equal (though it won't make me support Harper, since all else is nowhere near equal).
If anyone thinks that a polling station is illegal or think that there are other improprieties, that person should not take it upon him/herself to grab a ballot box. That person should contact Elections Canada.
Update:
http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/517010--conservatives-ask-elections-canada-to-nullify-votes-cast-of-u-of-g-wednesday
Could you check to see if my previous comment was caught by your spam filter, please? Thanks!
I don't think I have any filters on James. No sign of a previous comment.
looks like its legality may be questionable.
http://guelphmercury.blogs.com/files/letter-to-p.-boutet-dated-april-14-2011.pdf
If true does that make this young man a hero for trying to save his classmates from posting false ballots?
Did you get paid for that comment? Perhaps reading is not your forte, so I'll repost this quote for you.
Elections Canada media advisor James Hale said this was the third election during which the University of Guelph held a special ballot on campus. And this is the first time it’s ever been challenged, Hale said.
“Part of our mandate is making the vote as accessible as possible. So, we look at outreach programs,” Hale said.
Elections Canada media advisor James Hale said this was the third election during which the University of Guelph held a special ballot on campus. And this is the first time it’s ever been challenged, Hale said.
So what, exactly?
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