Robocall issue may be headed to court
Posted March 1, 2012 3:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There may soon be a court challenge over the robocall scandal.
The Council of Canadians is consulting with voters who received fraudulent or harassing phone calls in the last election.
They may soon file legal applications to have riding results overturned.
The focus will be on 20 key ridings where there is strong evidence that these calls may have impacted the outcome.
Ontario’s election featured automated calling machines with messages directed at voters. Several Liberal and NDP politicians in Ontario said the messages were designed to mislead voters.
The council said the potential court challenge isn’t about targeting certain parties, it’s about protecting democracy.
It’s only the voters or the candidates who can file applications.
“This type of fraud hasn’t been a feature of the Canadian electoral process,” Steven Shrybman, a lawyer for the organization, explained. “This is unprecedented and new. There aren’t any cases that deal with the kind of issues that we’re dealing with now.”
The Elections Canada Act states the legal action has to take place within 30 days of someone finding out there is fraudulent activity.
Since this news made headlines just last week, there is little time to get this going.
The council said this will likely end up in the Supreme Court, but that decision would be made by the end of the year.