Regular readers have probably seen a few rants on this topic before, but here’s a wee bit more in today’s Western Star on the bizarre provisions in the Elections Act which allow special ballots in Newfoundland & Labrador to be cast before the election is even called.
Admittedly, I’ve conflated two different issues here, so it’s probably not the best explanation of the problems with (and the legality of) casting votes ahead of the writ period. You can read a bit more on the subject in previous posts, but I’m starting to get the sense that it’ll take an academic-length paper (yawn) to spell this out more clearly. That ain’t gonna happen any time soon.
But I stand by the original quote in today’s piece: In the hypothetical event where a candidate loses by a very slim margin, and the number of special ballots cast before the writ period is bigger than the margin of victory, the whole system becomes vulnerable to a serious legal challenge.
And I would dearly love to test that theory…
