Poilievre calls for law to block long ballot protests that ’abuse’ democracy

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OTTAWA — Bipartisan support could be building behind the idea of reining in the long lists of names overwhelming election ballots in some ridings across Canada.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday that the long list of names lining up to flood the ballot in his upcoming federal byelection amounts to a “blatant abuse” of democracy.

Elections Canada said that as of Monday, 132 candidates sponsored by the Longest Ballot Committee were registered to run against Poilievre in a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River–Crowfoot set for Aug. 18.

The advocacy group also targeted Poilievre’s former riding of Carleton in the spring election, and some 91 people put their names up as candidates. The ballot itself was quite bulky and required a number of folds to submit.

The Conservative leader, who is seeking a path back to the House of Commons, said in a letter to Liberal House leader Steve MacKinnon posted on social media that the group is confusing voters and undermining democracy by flooding the ballot with unserious candidates.

“These aren’t real candidates. They aren’t campaigning. They aren’t engaging with constituents,” Poilievre wrote.

“This is a co-ordinated scheme to weaponize the ballot and disrupt our democratic process.”

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The Conservatives say they want the Liberals to pass a law when Parliament returns in September that would require a candidate to obtain signatures from 0.5% of the riding’s population, not just 100 people.

The party also wants each signature to be exclusive to one candidate, and for riding agents to be barred from representing more than one person at a time.

“These reforms will make the longest ballot scam impossible to carry out again and turn the ballot back to voters free from manipulation,” Poilievre wrote, adding that the Conservatives would work with the Liberals to get the legislation passed.

A spokesperson for MacKinnon’s office said in a statement that the Liberal government “shares the concerns about the longest ballot initiative and we are currently examining this issue.”

Elections Canada says it is looking at ways to simplify the voting process in Battle River–Crowfoot “based on recent experiences with elections involving a higher-than-usual number of candidates.

“We will finalize our plans after the deadline for candidate nominations — July 28 — when we know exactly how many candidates will be running,” an Elections Canada spokesperson said.

The Longest Ballot Committee is using its ballot protests to push for changes to the electoral system.

It wants a citizens’ assembly put in charge of crafting a new electoral system, and argues that political parties are reluctant to make the government more representative of a diverse electorate.

The group has helped dozens of candidates register in multiple contests in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba since 2022 to draw attention to its cause.

In Battle River–Crowfoot, the total number of party and Independent candidates reached 138 as of Monday afternoon. Candidates can continue signing up for another week ahead of the July 28 cutoff.

The RCMP said in a news release that several candidates in the riding have received negative and, in some cases, potentially threatening commentary on social media platforms.

— With files from Fakiha Baig.