.

[olpfan1]

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/44424/most-canadians-think-robocalls-were-used-broadly-in-last-election/

Most Canadians Think Robocalls Were Used Broadly in Last Election

Four-in-five respondents call for an independent investigation to find out who was behind the misleading robocalls made in the 2011 federal ballot.

[mentalfloss]

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/44424/most-canadians-think-robocalls-were-used-broadly-in-last-election/

Most Canadians Think Robocalls Were Used Broadly in Last Election

Four-in-five respondents call for an independent investigation to find out who was behind the misleading robocalls made in the 2011 federal ballot.

39% think the CPC were very likely to provide false and misleading information.

[cybercoma]

This doesn't look good at all for the Conservatives. Looks like the Manning School was giving a training session in voter suppression. Emma Pullman, research director for Leadnow.ca, writes:

In the question and answer period that following this session, panelists and attendees discussed using robo-calling services to contact non-supporters.

Ciano, Fryer explained, gave detailed explanation of how robo-calls work, as well as techniques for recording messages, and the costs involved. He then discussed the merits of robo-calling: in addition to being inexpensive, they give the campaign manager total control of the message. Campaign Research could even write your script if you didn’t want to do it yourself.

The conversation that followed was deeply disturbing to Fryer. In a question and answer session, attendees discussed voter suppression tactics. They talked about posing as a member of another party, and about making rude calls at inconvenient times as a strategy to get the supporter of another party to not go out and vote for their candidate.

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/03/07/robo-call-scandal-origins-inside-conservatives%E2%80%99-voter-suppression-school?page=0%2C0

When will the real Conservatives take their party back?

[olpfan1]

This doesn't look good at all for the Conservatives. Looks like the Manning School was giving a training session in voter suppression. Emma Pullman, research director for Leadnow.ca, writes:

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/03/07/robo-call-scandal-origins-inside-conservatives%E2%80%99-voter-suppression-school?page=0%2C0

When will the real Conservatives take their party back?

That's it, they are finished, once the MSM gets a hold of this we will see Harper & Del Mastro flopping like a fish out of water

[cybercoma]

So Campaign Research, the company that made misleading telephone calls in Cotler's riding, trained campaign managers for the Conservative Party. During that training they had a discussion on voter suppression.

[cybercoma]

Here is the letter to the editor that Fryer wrote.

In January, 2010, my UVic inbox had an e-mail invite from a democracy centre to attend a campaign school. Intrigued, I signed up for the three-day event.

Topics covered included voter identification. Discussion ensued about suppression techniques. Instructors explained voter suppression tactics were borrowed from those used by the U.S. Republican Party. Many kinds of suppression calls were canvassed. Another instructor gave detailed explanations of how robo-calls worked, techniques for recording messages, plus costs involved. He distributed his business card upon request.

Instructors made it clear that robo-calling and voter suppression were an acceptable and normal part of winning political campaigns. With election ethics like this, a more compelling case for changing to a system of proportional representation where each and every vote counts is hard to imagine.

John Fryer, adjunct professor, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria

This isn't some schmuck. We're talking about a public policy professor that has the Order of Canada.

Edited March 7, 2012 by cybercoma

[madmax]

deleted

Edited March 7, 2012 by madmax

[Jack Weber]

I do not know how anyone is surprised by this , harper is a dishonest despot

Dishonest??

Probably,but that only makes him like every other politician...

Despot???

A bit over the top there,huh?

[huh]

Dishonest??

Probably,but that only makes him like every other politician...

Despot???

A bit over the top there,huh?

Not for the left, the concept of rationalism is completely foreign to them.

[Jack Weber]

Not for the left, the concept of rationalism is completely foreign to them.

Kinda like "If you're not with us,you're with the child pornographers!"?

Idealogues are idealogues and they are prone to over the top hyperbole...

[MACKER]

They have the bill showing the guelph Canadidate paid for and lied about paying for the company to make the calls.

It only leaves to presume the other ridings robo calls.

The secondary point is that the conservative party went against elections Canada order not to give out poll information.

They broke the law. KICK THEM OUT.

Edited March 8, 2012 by MACKER

[mentalfloss]

NDP are really tearing this one up.

Conservatives about-face, now support NDP move to boost Elections Canada's powers

Edited March 8, 2012 by mentalfloss

[Boges]

See the type of sensationalism seen in this thread, if brought to the less politically in-tune public, will ultimately do more damage that good to the opposition, I predict.

Calling him a despot and actually contemplating the idea that the election is null and void is a pretty extremist view.

If it's found that bad stuff happened in Guelph then how exactly does that effect the CPC as a National governing party and the public's perception of it? Want to do a By-election in that riding? Go nuts!

Only assumptions can be made about their overall contempt for democracy regarding this issue.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Boges

[mentalfloss]

CBC News has obtained evidence that unregistered voters got on the voters' list in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the last election without providing an address, in violation of Elections Canada's own rules.

...

CBC News has learned there were at least 2,700 late registrations in Eglinton-Lawrence, but Elections Canada has declined a request to produce them, so it is unclear how many had phoney addresses, or none at all.

Toronto riding allowed voters with bogus addresses

Edited March 8, 2012 by mentalfloss

[treehugger]

I guess that most of you didn't read the lines in that report that stated, "There is no evidence that Harper's campaign or any other candidates were involved in the calls."

[waldo]

I guess that most of you didn't read the lines in that report that stated, "There is no evidence that Harper's campaign or any other candidates were involved in the calls."

what report?

[olpfan1]

So the CONservatives have broke another elections Canada law...they just love breaking them don't they? Now they are BALLOT STUFFING

Asked this week about allegations of dirty tricks in the riding during the election, the winner, Conservative Joe Oliver, called Volpe a “sore loser” and said there was no vote suppression by his side.

“Our objective was to increase voter turnout, and in that we succeeded admirably,” Oliver said.

But documents obtained by CBC News show a late influx of unregistered voters in the riding who got on the voters' list without giving any address. The law requires unregistered voters to provide both a present and former address when filling out a late registration form at a polling station.

A stack of late registration forms shows many provided no address, which is required by the elections law. Others have bogus addresses — a UPS store in one case, a Scotiabank branch in another.

Volpe declined to talk about the voter registration forms, but Liberal campaign lawyer Tony Pascale said he wants Elections Canada to investigate.

Edited March 8, 2012 by olpfan1

[Boges]

So the CONservatives have broke another elections Canada law...they just love breaking them don't they? Now they are BALLOT STUFFING

Asked this week about allegations of dirty tricks in the riding during the election, the winner, Conservative Joe Oliver, called Volpe a “sore loser” and said there was no vote suppression by his side.

“Our objective was to increase voter turnout, and in that we succeeded admirably,” Oliver said.

But documents obtained by CBC News show a late influx of unregistered voters in the riding who got on the voters' list without giving any address. The law requires unregistered voters to provide both a present and former address when filling out a late registration form at a polling station.

A stack of late registration forms shows many provided no address, which is required by the elections law. Others have bogus addresses — a UPS store in one case, a Scotiabank branch in another.

Volpe declined to talk about the voter registration forms, but Liberal campaign lawyer Tony Pascale said he wants Elections Canada to investigate.

How, pray tell, can you prove what party an unregistered voter voted for?

It's the job of the scrutineers to determine that anyone that votes is registered to vote in that riding.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Boges

[olpfan1]

How, pray tell, can you prove what party an unregistered voter voted for?

It's the job of the scrutineers to determine that anyone that votes is registered to vote in that riding.

Its an elections canada screw up for sure but Joe Oliver doesn't sound too concerned that this went on at all

he sounds like he is proud of himself

this is more reason not to trust election canada with this investigation

Edited March 8, 2012 by olpfan1

[waldo]

well, and there we have it - central control tied back to the Conservative party level.

The Conservative Party’s central campaign office in Ottawa takes charge of all Elections Canada voter lists and candidate voter identification lists, including the addition of voter telephone numbers, for all of the 308 Conservative candidate campaigns in federal elections, a veteran Conservative MP says.

Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, Sask.) explained the Conservative Party’s central control over candidate campaign voter-information lists in the midst of a growing controversy over alleged attempts by Conservatives to suppress the turnout of voters who supported other parties in the federal election last May.

Opposition MPs say Mr. Vellacott’s description of the central Conservative campaign data management and control—coupled with the secrecy under which all parties manage their voter contact identification information—indicates the Conservative Party had more control than it has so far said over the voter lists and phone numbers that are at the centre of the robocall controversy.

Liberals told The Hill Times on Tuesday their party does not maintain central control over campaign voting lists and voter identification numbers, and a senior NDP official, Brad Lavigne, recently told CBC’s The House that NDP electoral districts maintain their own voter lists.

[cybercoma]

NDP are really tearing this one up.

Conservatives about-face, now support NDP move to boost Elections Canada's powers

This is the best way to take the wind out of the sails of this story. It's about time the strategists started reading my posts and taking my advice.

[olpfan1]

How dare he be proud of himself for trying to increase voter turn out in his riding. Despicable!

Ballot Stuffing and getting away with it due to Elections Canada incompetence is nothing to be proud of sir

[huh]

Ballot stuffing?? What are you even talking about, man?

Nothing, always nothing.

[Boges]

It's funny this happened in Toronto.

The previous administration flirted with the idea of allowing non-citizens from voting.

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/648848

That, of course is a left-wing initiative because we all know immigrants are hard-wired to be Liberal.

Who's to say Liberals didn't get immigrants in the riding to vote when they were ineligible?

[olpfan1]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/08/pol-milewski-eglinton-lawrence.html

A stack of late registration forms shows many provided no address, which is required by the elections law. Others have bogus addresses — a UPS store in one case, a Scotiabank branch in another.

If this is true there should be a by election in that riding so that all parties have a fair chance this time