'Legalized election interference': Poilievre byelection challengers blast long-ballot protest group
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Several independent and third-party candidates said the meddling of the electoral-reform activist Longest Ballot Committee (LBC) was detrimental to the group's stated aim of strengthening democracy and, if anything, would give Poilievre an easier pass in the critical byelection, scheduled for Aug. 18.
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The LBC plans to make the ballot the most crowded federal race in Canadian history with more than 100 candidates as a publicity stunt protesting against the government's refusal to implement a different voting system other than first past the post. It has done so in recent races in other ridings.
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Jesse Cole, a spokesperson for independent candidate Bonnie Critchley, called the LBC's ballot crowding 'a form of legalized electoral interference' that drowns out legitimate voices for change.
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'These candidates, who have no true intention of serving the people of Battle River–Crowfoot, only make it more difficult for legitimate, local independent candidates like Bonnie Critchley to challenge the status quo of Canada's dominant, two-party system and ensure a voice for her community,' Cole said in an email.
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Critchley, who lives in the riding, penned an open letter in late May asking the LBC not to interfere in the byelection.
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Her request fell on deaf ears, with 122 LBC-affiliated candidates on the ballot as of Monday afternoon. The group is aiming for 200 by the time nominations close next Monday.
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Critchley, who said she hoped her 'independent' label would attract free thinking small-c conservatives who voted for Conservative Damien Kurek in the recent federal election, will now be far from the only candidate with that affiliation.
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Libertarian candidate Michael Harris, who also lives in the riding, accused the protest group of making a joke out the riding and those who live there.
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'Let's call it what it is: a coordinated mockery of the democratic process, designed to flood the ballot and drown out real debate,' said Harris in an email.
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