Voting Irregularities

There are accusations about that there were voting irregularities in some ridings in Canada during the 23 January election, particularly with regard to the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan.

The problem in Canada is that the Controls required to be a voter in this country are ridiculous. I personally know landed immigrants and Americans on work permits who received voter cards (because they filed Canadian income tax). This would allow them to vote if they were so unscrupulous.

Additionally, many people can vote without a registration card simply by proving they are who they claim (photo ID), and that they live in the riding (gas bill). This would allow you to vote in multiple ridings if you have a residence and business in separate areas, or if you own many properties. Since the record of voters at polling stations is manual, there is no ability to track individual voters to prohibit multiple voting.

Therefore, Canada needs to do two things:

1. Implement a mandatory identification system at voting stations, where you must produce proof of citizenship. This could be a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or passport. It would be easier if we had a national ID card. You would also have to present photo ID, SIN, and proof of residency.
   
2. Implement an electronic system of tracking voters so that when you take a ballot at a polling station, the system can record that you voted. That way you can't go to another polling station in another area because you would already be in the database.
3. Failing this, we could adopt the "purple finger" method of identifying voters used in new democracies (like Iraq).

Because our democracy is subject to manipulation. I'm not saying it necessarily has been - just that it could be. And waiting until there is a major voting scandal is not the right action to take.