Conservative voter suppression scandal

Vancouver Observer:

With their narrow 10-seat majority in Parliament, the Conservative Party is facing its most significant scandal since the 2011 election, after Elections Canada began an investigation into thousands of illegal 'robo-calls' traced to a Conservative-tied firm in Alberta. You could call it 'Robo-Gate'.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) alleged in a press conference today that it might have won the 2011 election had "dirty tricks" not been used to prevent NDP, Liberal and Bloc Quebecois voters from exercising their democratic rights. At a press conference in Ottawa today, Winnipeg NDP Member of Parliament Pat Martin called it “the largest electoral fraud in Canadian history.”

The scandal emerged after the Ottawa Citizen revealed that Elections Canada had traced automatic, pre-recorded phone calls – dubbed 'robo-calls' – to a firm used extensively by the Conservatives during the 2011 election, Edmonton-based RackNine Inc. The calls, made to at least 18 key swing ridings across the country, sent opposition voters to false voting stations and impersonated Liberal campaigners with offensive calls.

The Commissioner of Canada Elections reported to Parliament he has opened an investigation into “crank calls designed to discourage voting, discourage voting for a particular party, or incorrectly advise electors of changed polling locations.”

One example of a robo-call pretended to be from Elections Canada, as quoted in the Ottawa Citizen:

From 450-760-7746. Received May 2 at 10:12 a.m.

This is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout, your poll location has been changed. You new voting location is at the Old Quebec Street Mall at 55 Wyndham Street North. Once again, your new poll location is the Old Quebec Street Mall at 55 Wyndham Street North. If you have any questions, please call our hotline at 1-800-434-4456. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

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