PoliticalCitizen

That's what it was for the 2006 elections - 665,940. This time around the number should at least double - I would say anywhere from 1 to 1.5 million votes.

Can you prove that with some links and numbers?

You bring up a good point. But by the same token, do you trust the mutual funds with your money? Who oversees them? A commission could be formed to include members of all parties that participated in the election to oversee the process.

So you're saying there's a fundamental difference between our way of counting ballots and USA's?

I understand where you're coming from: "If it's not broke, don't fix it". But just how verifiable is the paper ballot system today? Could you identify the voter by the style of the X they used?

What about an internet-enabled cell phone? There could be multi-purpose government electronic stations in shopping malls that could be used for voting. I think the government collecting and keeping biometric info (including DNA) of all of it's citizens is just a matter of time. Besides it should be in the citizen's best interests anyway - no identity theft or credit card fraud would be possible (or at least they would be a LOT harder).

Nice find! Shows how much parties really care about environment when it comes to walking the talk.

Shouldn't the Canadian citizens be grateful to the immigrants that come and work here so their taxes could pay the old Canadians' pensions and disabled Canadians' social assistance? Shouldn't the Canadian citizens be grateful that thanks to immigration their country's population not only grows but gets enriched by the cream of the world's countries?

Do you trust the banks with your money or keep paper bills under your pillow?

Well I guess there would have to be a gradual transition. There are electronic IDs issued by the federal government that are quite secure. Biometrics could also be used (such as fingerprint, face and voice recognition). That's a non-issue. If you believe our systems are THAT prone to error than you shouldn't have any money in the bank. It is better than knowing their ballot could have been forged and having no way of checking.

Almost all records for most companies are electronic nowadays. If you think that they are easy to break into or forge then you may have a wrong impression about the state of IT today. Paper is out. Databases are in. It all happened in the last century.

Firstly - may I remind you the vote re-count and associated questionable decisions that put Bush in power in 2000. Secondly - it would not only get rid of the polling stations but also of the paper records. Thirdly - increase voter turnout (everyone knows the "unless it rains" phrase) by allowing people (such as remote and disabled) and out-of-the-country (such as our Afghan soldiers) easy access to the electoral mechanism.

There's a support movement vor open ballot voting in USA: http://www.openballotvoting.org/

Not if it's OPEN. The government could ask you to verify your vote online.

Quote?

I appreciate the brevity of your 1-bit answer. Would you care to substantiate?

Your trademark one-liner lacks substance this time.

Employers do not have access to your banking details today. They will not be allowed access to the election data in the future.

As we all know paper ballots were not easily verifiable and certainly far from the best system in the US elections in 2000.

Isn't it time to move ahead in voting technology? We as taxpayers have spent a lot of money setting up and staffing polling stations. Wouldn't you prefer to vote over the internet from the convenience of your home? Would that not increase the number of voters? And to ensure there's no fraud - why not vote openly? It doesn't have to be open to everybody, just you and the appropriate government agencies. Then you could log in to Elections Canada and verify that your vote is correctly placed. What was the purpose of secret voting? Are people afraid of retribution for their vote in today's society? All it creates is the possibility of fraud.

You cannot immigrate to Canada from Somalia - you can only be a refugee. Most immigrants come from developed countries.

Canada has not paid for the immingrants' upbringing (as in health care and education). Some other country absorbed these costs and then lost the workforce. How is that fair?

You just LOVE trolling, don't you

Who sais they shouldn't? Most immigrants become citizens in 3 years. Their interests are to bring over family, relatives and friends.

Well fortunately for the most of us all of these newspapers will not change the most likely scenario of Harper getting another minority, not losing any seats at best. He BROKE his word on not calling another election and WASTED Canadian taxpayers money on an unnecessary election. He has also bolstered the ranks of NDP which are certain to try to topple him at each and every confidence vote.