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Edmonton Journal - Are we a Banana Republic

From http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=22e24be8-69ca-4869-8f6c-f6e1f4c20ffd&k=92856





Are we a "banana republic"?

Taft wants electoral system overhauled

Darcy Henton, edmontonjourn.com

Published: 7:38 pm



EDMONTON - Alberta needs to overhaul its electoral system because votes conducted in the province almost have the feel of "a banana republic," says Liberal leader Kevin Taft.



Taft made the call as Albertans prepare to go to the polls Monday to elect a new government.



The leader of Alberta's official opposition cited a number of longstanding concerns his party has with the electoral process after visiting several temples and seniors residences for some last minute campaigning in Edmonton Sunday.



He said the situation has become so acute that there's a risk voters will lose confidence in it and that could be dangerous for democracy.



"I am concerned that casting a ballot is the most fundamental thing in our democracy and when that gets undermined, the whole democracy gets undermined so we need to be absolutely vigilant about making sure it's a legitimate process," Taft told reporters.



He suggested some of the problems being raised by his candidates Sunday, like concerns about controls to prevent people from voting both in the advance polls and on election day, could be addressed by requiring voters to produce photo identification.



"I know it's controversial but I have come out in the past and said yes," he said.



Taft has complained about abuses of the electoral process in his book Democracy Derailed, which outlined a situation where special ballots were cast on behalf of people who weren't even in the country.



"One of the biggest voting scandals in recent history was just in Calgary in a municipal election where there were 1,000 fraudulent ballots," Taft said. "We've seen dead people turn up on voter's lists. ... We have clear evidence of people voting in constituencies where they don't live."



Earlier in the campaign, Taft called for changes to the way returning officers are appointed after it was revealed that many of the elections officials have close ties to the government. A spokesman for Premier Ed Stelmach later said the names of prospective returning officers are provided by the Conservative party to the chief electoral officer - a process the chief electoral officer tried unsuccessfully to change two years ago.



"We need a complete overhaul of voting registration," Taft said. "We need fixed election dates so that there is enough time to plan for these elections - and more than anything we need the public to understand that if we lose the legitimacy of our voting process we're going to lose democracy itself."



Taft said concerns about the fairness of the process may be partly to blame for Alberta's record low voter turnout in the 2004 election.



"If people think that voting is not legitimate, they're not going to participate," he said.



"It's like cheating in sports. If there's a lot of cheating in sports, spectators disconnect. Spectators leave. Spectators don't watch. ... If there's cheating in voting, people are going to leave democracy. It's the same kind of thing and that's a really serious danger."



Elections Alberta declined to respond to Taft's criticisms.



The Liberal leader expressed confidence his party will do well in Monday's vote, even though there's only been one change in government in the past 72 years.



"We're very excited," he said. "I feel over the last two, three, four days the undecided is shifting our way. We're getting great reports from our campaigns."



He said there's going to be dramatically different politics in Alberta on Tuesday morning than there has been in many, many decades.



"People in Alberta know in their gut that Alberta needs a new government and there's a chance they will actually see that tomorrow."



dhenton@thejournal.canwest.com





© Edmonton Journal 2008

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