Special Ballot in Guelph a Mistake Afterall

It's very easy to criticize someone for a wrong-doing. After all, its human nature to put others down in order to make ourselves look good. Finding the truth has become a secondary act. A Special Ballot was held at the University of Guelph on Wednesday where 241 votes were cast. Special Ballots are to assist electors in a range of situations where they cannot vote otherwise. They are mainly used by soldiers overseas. In order to hold this event, the organizers must have the event pre-authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer.

"Initiatives of this nature are expected to be planned well ahead of the election," said Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Marc Mayrand. "Parties are consulted, to avoid any confusion and to give them an opportunity to raise any possible concerns so that these may be considered and, where appropriate, addressed prior to conducting such initiatives." - Elections Canada

And according to Elections Canada, the event at the University of Guelph was NOT pre-authorized, therefore it should not have taken place to begin with. The Returning Officer organized the vote to encourage the student vote.

Also, according to Elections Canada, because the voting process was done in an organized fashion and in a way that respected Canada's Elections Act, the votes are valid. The Conservative Party of Canada have said they will honour their ruling. But Elections Canada makes it clear that the Special Ballot at the University will not continue in any similar form.

"Once Elections Canada officials were made aware of the local initiative in Guelph, the returning officer was instructed not to engage in any further activities of a similar nature. All returning officers have received this instruction." - Elections Canada

"Elections Canada spokesman John Enright said that although (Returning Officer) Ms. Budra’s efforts were “well-intentioned,” they were not pre-authorized by Elections Canada, nor were the parties given enough warning." - The Globe and Mail

Michael Sona, the Director of Communications for Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke has taken a lot of heat in the media for allegedly trying to "steal" the ballot box according to the report by the Guelph Mercury. Back to my initial point, Lets not put Sona down in order to make the other party's look good. If we are to pin-point and blame the Conservatives for a ruling that stated that the voting event at the University of Guelph was not pre-authorized, then I guess this is a way the Liberals tried to distract the voters from a dismal performance by Ignatieff in the Leaders debate. Let's not blame the Conservatives, as Ignatieff has stated as anti-democratic, but lets get our facts straight. If you want to talk about being anti-democratic, how about putting on an election that was unauthorized and according to the Guelph Mercury, having partisan election material on display near the ballot box. I'm sure thats what Ignatieff was talking about when he related this event to Egypt and Syria. You know, kind of how Mubarak was in power for 30 years.

“This is the kind of thing you’d expect, you know, maybe in Egypt or Syria or some country that doesn’t know democracy,” Mr. Ignatieff said. - The Globe and Mail

Conservatives claim that they were not aware of this vote and Elections Canada agreed. Michael Sona is not the guilty one here, lets not distract ourselves, he seemed to be the only one who knew the truth about Special Ballots. And although the Guelph Mercury has stated he tried to "steal" the ballot box, other sources not stated in the report say otherwise. So much for a balanced report. We have a very important election ahead of us, lets all go out there and vote on the issues. Look at the platforms of all party's and do what you think is right.