Elections Canada investigating online vote swapping

Updated Fri. Sep. 12 2008 5:48 PM ET

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Canada's electoral watchdog is investigating the legality of an online vote-swapping scheme.

Marc Mayrand, the chief electoral officer, said Friday that Elections Canada is looking into a Facebook group aimed at preventing Stephen Harper's Conservatives from winning a majority on Oct. 14.

The scheme may be nothing more than "organized strategic voting," Mayrand said in an interview.

But it may also fall afoul of the law, which prohibits people from selling their votes or accepting an incentive or material benefit for voting.

"Right now, we have very little information," Mayrand said.

"We need to look at it more closely to see whether there are any potential offences."

On Wednesday, Mat Savelli of Hamilton, Ont. created the "Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada" group on Facebook.

The website lists 41 ridings, such as Ontario's Parry Sound-Muskoka, that will likely be tight races. It encourages members to swap votes in order to stop the Tories from winning those contests.

For instance, a person in Parry Sound might want to vote for the Green party but feel compelled to cast a ballot for the Liberals strictly to stop Health Minister Tony Clement, who won by only 28 votes last time, from winning re-election.

The person could use Savelli's site to find a Liberal in another riding where it would be safe to vote Green without fear of electing a Tory. The two would then agree to swap votes.

Carbon offsets another new issue

This isn't the only novelty Elections Canada is dealing with during the current federal campaign.

For the first time, four of five parties are purchasing green investments to offset the carbon footprint their campaign planes, buses, vans and events will produce.

Mayrand said carbon offsets must be recorded as campaign expenses and fall within the national spending limit of roughly $20 million per party.

"It's an expense that's incurred as a result of the campaign . . . so, yes, it will have to be reported and it will be considered as an electoral expense."

The Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green party have all negotiated agreements with environmental firms to measure their greenhouse gas emissions during the campaign and offset them by investing in projects that will reduce the emissions that cause global warming.

Harper's Conservatives are not purchasing carbon offsets, which means they'll have more money than the others to spend on more traditional campaign expenses, like polling and advertising.

The NDP has estimated that it would need to purchase $60,000 worth of carbon offsets to minimize the carbon footprint left by Jack Layton's 2006 campaign tour. The cost for the current campaign can't be calculated accurately until the campaign is over, said spokesman Ian Capstick.

The Liberals were unable to estimate the cost of offsetting Stephane Dion's tour emissions.

Ad spending being tracked

Mayrand also said Elections Canada has gone to great lengths to ensure there is no repeat of the so-called in-and-out scandal from the 2006 election.

In that campaign, the agency alleges that the Conservatives funnelled money for national ads through local ridings, enabling the party to exceed its spending limit by more than $1 million and candidates to claim rebates on expenses they hadn't actually incurred.

The Tories contend that the transactions were perfectly legal and in line with what other parties have done. They are in court contesting Elections Canada's interpretation of the law.

Mayrand said the agency has taken several steps to remind all parties and candidates about the rules, including a recent conference call to reinforce its view that a local campaign expense must actually promote a local candidate, not the national party.

Mayrand said that's always been Elections Canada's interpretation of the law but it has now rewritten the handbooks for candidates and parties to clarify the matter. He said he expects the Tories will comply.

"I trust all parties understand our position on the various issues and on the application of the legislation and I trust that they will comply with those interpretations," he said.

"And I have no reason to believe that they will not."

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