OT: Get out there and vote!

[Tim Writer]

Max Blanco <blanco-S8qYAnHmZTt34ZA5RureAJ4VBq8PJc8F at public.gmane.org> writes:

> On Tue, 11 Nov 2003, Drew Hamilton wrote:
> 
> > Continuing the off-topic thread, was anyone else upset by the way that the
> > vote was handled?  I had the following issues with my polling place:
> > 
> > 1)  I didn't have to prove that I was a Canadian citizen before they
> >     let me add myself to the list of eligible electors.  All that they
> >     cared about was that I lived in the building that the polling place
> >     was.  I'd estimate that over 50% of my building's tenants are not
> >     Canadian citizens, so that was probably an important thing to check.
> 
> I think that the element of trust is a legacy of the British system.  
> Thank God for the British, I think; otherwise I think that we would have a
> police state with National ID cards like the type that I think Federal
> Immigration Minister Denis Coderre wants to implement.  I think that he is
> not your friend.
> 
> Should your name not be on the voter's list, I think that you are required
> to take an oath to the effect that you are who you say you are and a
> qualified elector.  I think that you are liable to penalty of perjury if
> you are not qualified.  I think that this involves a prison sentence.

I'm willing to be corrected but, AFAIK, you don't have to be a Canadian
citizen to vote in a municipal election, just a resident.

> > 2)  When they were searching for my name on the elector list, they told me
> >     which of my neighbours were on the list
> 
> I think that the voters' list is open to public scrutiny, as I think 
> that it should be.
> 
> > 3)  After I filled in the voting sheet, I had to hand it back to the
> >     electoral staff member, who looked it over before putting it in the
> >     computer.  What right does he have to know how I voted?
> 
> I think that may be a violation of secrecy; I think that maybe you should
> have been given a folder in which to place your ballot.  I think that
> maybe the clerk should have fed the ballot face down into the machine; I
> think that maybe s/he should not have had the opportunity to read your
> ballot.

Yes, at my polling station, I was required to get an electoral official to
sign it but the spot for his signature was visible when in the envelope.
Another official fed it face down into the machine.

The issues I have are:

    o   How long does it take to get on the voting list?  I've been resident
        in Toronto since 1987 and am still not on the list.  Another woman at
        the polling station has been here for 50 years and isn't on the
        list!

    o   How long does it take to get off the list?  5 people who are no
        longer at my address (and haven't been for more than 5 years) are
        still on the list.

    o   What's with the stupid arrows?

    o   Who makes the counting machines?  Is the software available for
        public scrutiny?

-- 
tim writer <tim-s/rLXaiAEBtBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org>                                  starnix inc.
905.771.0017 ext. 225                           thornhill, ontario, canada
http://www.starnix.com              professional linux services & products
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