Latest news with #ElectionsCanada
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Senator says 'onus is on Elections Canada' to educate voters, given high number of rejected ballots
In the wake of a recount in a tightly contested federal riding in rural Newfoundland, a longtime politician says Elections Canada needs to do a better job educating people on how to vote. An unprecedented number of disputed ballots in the Terra Nova-The Peninsulas riding forced a lengthy delay on the outcome of what was among the tightest races in this year's federal election. More than 41,000 people voted in the newly named riding. After a marathon recount, 819 ballots were ultimately rejected, according to the Elections Canada website. Fabian Manning, a senator and former Newfoundland and Labrador MHA and Conservative MP, said he's never seen so many ballots rejected. "When I look at the numbers of people who voted in the election, the numbers were much larger than they were in my campaigns," he told CBC News. He said there's no doubt in his mind that there was confusion among voters over the difference between federal and provincial ballots. Manning was in Marystown for the full two days of the recount as a scrutineer. Elections Canada ballots are grey, with white rectangles containing each candidate's name and party. A white circle to the right of each rectangle is where voters are supposed to mark their choice. A recount was ordered by Elections Canada after the initial tally following the April 28 federal election showed Liberal candidate Anthony Germain ahead of Conservative Jonathan Rowe by 12 votes. Rowe was declared the winner on May 23 by that same margin. In his decision released on Monday, Justice Garrett Handrigan wrote that on many of the disputed ballots — maybe as many as half — voters had left their mark in the rectangular box. In some of these so-called "rectangle ballots," voters had also left a mark in the circle. Manning said the Canadian Elections Act states a mark has to be made behind the candidate's name and doesn't stipulate if it's an X, check mark or initial, as long as it doesn't identify the voter. But in Newfoundland and Labrador provincial elections, voters can use an X or a check by the name on a ballot to signify who they are voting for. "People may think that, you know, put a check mark next to the person's name and that ballot is counted," said Manning. In contrast, a federal ballot is rejected if a mark isn't in the circle. "The Elections Canada people in the polling station and the judge, under the Canadian Elections Act, would not be allowed to accept that," said Manning. "That's why I think we ended up with a lot of rejected ballots." Manning says there are signs posted at polling stations telling people how to mark their ballots, but he worries the process isn't explained very well to people, especially seniors. He said there was a high number of rejected ballots across the country.
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
How a judge handled an ‘unprecedented' 1,041 disputed ballots in a tight N.L. recount
ST. JOHN'S - A new report explains how a judge dealt with an 'unprecedented' number of disputed ballots — 1,041 — during a federal election recount in a rural Newfoundland riding recently won by the Conservatives. Justice Garrett Handrigan's report, dated Monday, says 'maybe as many as half' of the disputed ballots in the Terra Nova-The Peninsulas riding were marked in the rectangular box containing the candidates' name. His report says lawyers for Liberal candidate Anthony Germain argued Handrigan would be disenfranchising those voters by dismissing their ballots. However, lawyers for Conservative Jonathan Rowe said Handrigan must stick to the Canada Elections Act, which says any ballot not marked in the circle next to the name shall be rejected. Handrigan rejected the so-called 'rectangle ballots,' and a table accompanying his report indicates he ultimately dismissed more than 675 ballots. Elections Canada announced Friday that Rowe was declared the winner after the recount found he had defeated Germain by 12 votes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
How a judge handled an ‘unprecedented' 1,041 disputed ballots in a tight N.L. recount
A person leaves after voting at a polling station in the Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby riding on federal election day in Vancouver, on Monday, April 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns ST. JOHN'S — A new report explains how a judge dealt with an 'unprecedented' number of disputed ballots — 1,041 — during a federal election recount in a rural Newfoundland riding recently won by the Conservatives. Justice Garrett Handrigan's report, dated Monday, says 'maybe as many as half' of the disputed ballots in the Terra Nova-The Peninsulas riding were marked in the rectangular box containing the candidates' name. His report says lawyers for Liberal candidate Anthony Germain argued Handrigan would be disenfranchising those voters by dismissing their ballots. However, lawyers for Conservative Jonathan Rowe said Handrigan must stick to the Canada Elections Act, which says any ballot not marked in the circle next to the name shall be rejected. Handrigan rejected the so-called 'rectangle ballots,' and a table accompanying his report indicates he ultimately dismissed more than 675 ballots. Elections Canada announced Friday that Rowe was declared the winner after the recount found he had defeated Germain by 12 votes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025. The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
How a judge handled an ‘unprecedented' 1,041 disputed ballots in a tight N.L. recount
ST. JOHN'S – A new report explains how a judge dealt with an 'unprecedented' number of disputed ballots — 1,041 — during a federal election recount in a rural Newfoundland riding recently won by the Conservatives. Justice Garrett Handrigan's report, dated Monday, says 'maybe as many as half' of the disputed ballots in the Terra Nova-The Peninsulas riding were marked in the rectangular box containing the candidates' name. His report says lawyers for Liberal candidate Anthony Germain argued Handrigan would be disenfranchising those voters by dismissing their ballots. However, lawyers for Conservative Jonathan Rowe said Handrigan must stick to the Canada Elections Act, which says any ballot not marked in the circle next to the name shall be rejected. Handrigan rejected the so-called 'rectangle ballots,' and a table accompanying his report indicates he ultimately dismissed more than 675 ballots. Elections Canada announced Friday that Rowe was declared the winner after the recount found he had defeated Germain by 12 votes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Elections Canada sullies it's own reputation with recounts
No, the election wasn't stolen, but the bizarre recount situation is calling the ability of Elections Canada to do their job into question. Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox A person walks past an Elections Canada sign on Queen Street West in Toronto prior to the Canadian federal election, Monday, April 14, 2025. Photo by Peter J. Thompson / Postmedia Elections Canada is doing a really good job of sullying its own reputation. The bizarre nature of recounts happening in this last election is making them look like the gang that couldn't shoot straight. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account We have ridings won by hundreds of votes by one side flipping to the other, leads reduced to a handful of votes and one riding won by a single vote, but some ballots weren't counted. At a time where parts of the public are convinced that every election is stolen — that the establishment or deep state are out to protect the preferred party — this doesn't help. To be clear, there is no evidence of the election being stolen, of officials putting their thumbs on the scale or anything inappropriate happening. That said, incompetence will lead to questions about what really happened. Take, for example, Milton East—Halton Hills South where Liberal candiate Kristina Tesser Derksen defeated Conservative candidate Parm Gill by 21 votes. On election night, Gill had been declared the winner by 298 votes but in the validation of the vote, that turned into a 29 vote loss for Gill. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After a judicial recount, Tesser Derksen turned a 298 vote loss into a 21 vote win. It's standard practice for Elections Canada to tally the votes again the day after counting is done. Still, how does a 298 vote win for Gill turn into a 29 and then 21 vote loss for the Conservatives? This one has people questioning the statistical probability of such an outcome. Thankfully, due to the judicial recount process where all parties are present and they can challenge ballots and decisions, there is no need to doubt the outcome. While strange, it is legitimate. In Windsor Tecumseh Lakeshore, Conservative Kathy Borrelli won the riding by 233 votes on election night over Liberal Irek Kusmierczyk. After the validation of vote, Borelli's lead dropped to 77 votes and after a judicial recount, she eventually won by just four votes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Meanwhile, in the Newfoundland riding of Terra Nova–The Peninsulas, Liberal Anthony Germain won the riding by just 12 votes but in the end, Conservative Jonathan Rowe won, by just 12 votes after a recount. The weirdest riding though was Terrebonne in the Montreal area. It went to the Liberals by 35 votes on election night, then flipped to the Bloc after the validation process and then went back to the Liberals by one vote after a judicial recount. That's when the mess really started. Voters came forward to say that their special ballots that they mailed in on time didn't make it because Elections Canada printed the wrong postal code on the return envelope and the ballots were returned to sender. Based on all of that, the Bloc Quebecois has taken the result to court asking for the election to declared null and void and a byelection to be held. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While experts debate the validity of the Bloc's claim — and there have been law experts claiming they have a valid case and others saying it should be thrown out — the reality is the mistakes by Elections Canada do cast a shadow of a doubt over the current result. A byelection should clearly be held so that no MP is sitting in the House of Commons with an asterisk next to their name. All of these examples combined do make you wonder, how many other ridings were closer than we know simply because we didn't bother double checking the work? It isn't normal to see the work of Elections Canada called into question, but between these messy recounts, their website not working on election night and a general distrust of institutions that is spreading, it's natural and understandable that this is happening. Next time around, Elections Canada needs to run a tighter ship. Read More Relationships Canada Ontario Columnists Football
