SCC and Election Results

The Supreme Court is presently hearing arguments for scrapping Section 329 of the Elections Act, which is what prevents the media from broadcasting the results from the polls that have closed in Atlantic Canada before the polls close in BC.

This may come as a surprise to many, but I actually support the concept of Section 329. I don't want the media to be able to report the results early, because that would give voters in BC an unfair advantage. Democracy is about everyone being equal... each person gets one vote, and everyone gets to have their say.

But scrap Section 329, and all voters in BC would have to do is wait until the end of the day, and see how things were shaping up in the rest of the country. If the Liberals were leading, then voters in BC could rush en-masse to the NDP or the Tories, and prevent them from getting a majority. Same deal if the Tories were declared as most likely to win... the left leaning voters could collude to make a wholesale switch to the other left party in order to "stop the neo-Cons", and so on and so forth.

It's undemocratic... it would give a HUGE amount of power to BC, making them Canada's official kingmaker or breaker. The Liberals have continually campaigned on fear in the past, and could use this to boost their numbers, taking away seats that the NDP or the Tories would win otherwise. I don't like it, and I say that Section 329 should be preserved.

So, for the record, I oppose Stephen Harper on this one... he petitioned to scrap Section 329 when he was president of the NCC. (see? I don't blindly back the PM on everything...)