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<DIV>Hi!</DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for the points and concerns being raised. I think it will affect
many low income eligible voters. They can/may move more often than other members
of the public and house share to save costs. We see many people with very
limited options for ID/bills etc at the Family House.</DIV>
<DIV>Please find some way for agencies in Ottawa to bring this and other
concerns they have re this Bill forward.</DIV>
<DIV>Regards</DIV>
<DIV>Barbara Carroll E.D. Debra Dynes Family House Inc.</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:debradynes@on.aibn.com">debradynes@on.aibn.com</A> </DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=linda_lalonde_ottawa@yahoo.com
href="mailto:linda_lalonde_ottawa@yahoo.com">Linda Lalonde</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 05, 2014 5:34 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=mike@endhomelessnessottawa.ca
href="mailto:mike@endhomelessnessottawa.ca">Mike Bulthuis</A> ; <A
title=homeles_ot-l@list.web.net
href="mailto:homeles_ot-l@list.web.net">homeles_ot-l@list.web.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [homeles_ot-l] "Fair Elections Act" and implications
forvoters without identification</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN>Hi Mike,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"><SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"><SPAN>I'm
not sure that this new provision would affect homeless people the way it's being
described.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"><SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">There
are two different processes here - one for people who are homeless or without ID
that ties them to an address and another for people who live in a particular
poll but don't have any of the ID that is on the list of acceptable forms. I
have worked in numerous elections as a supervisor of poll staff for both
Elections Canada and Elections Ontario.</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">If
Mary lives at 123 Main Street but doesn't have a drivers licence, passport, etc
and can't prove both who she is AND that she lives there, the current system
allows Sam who lives at 127 Main Street to swear that he knows her and knows
that she lives there. You can only vouch for a person who lives in the same poll
as you and you can't vouch for more than one voter.</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: helveticaneue, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">For
the last four elections, I've overseen polls in Sandy Hill and, when the
election is in October, there are dozens of students that have submitted a
change of address but haven't received their new ID. They often live with
room-mates and the hydro bill is in the roomie's name or they haven't received
it yet. If the room-mate has valid ID, they could vouch for the other person.
Those are the people that will be affected by the removal of vouching.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The other group is people who are a) homeless and therefore have no address
that connects them to a particular polling place or b) have no ID that has the
required info on it. For this group, the process is that they can go to an
agency where they are known such as a soup kitchen, drop-in centre or shelter
and a designated staff person there fills out a form that they bring with them
to the polling station and use as ID to vote. I tried to find the legislation to
verify it and couldn't but my understanding of what I have read is that this
isn't on the line. I will check further to clarify this. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The government is saying that people will still have 39 kinds of ID that
they can use to vote and the agency letter is treated as ID when you bring it to
a polling station. Also, if it was vouching, then both the voter and the person
who vouches for them would have to be present in person at the polling station
at the same time. That's not the case with the agency letter - we have, at every
polling place, a copy of the signature of the designated person in each agency
that we compare with the form a voter presents.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Vouching is a throwback to the time when there was a door-to-door
enumeration done before every election and people were sometimes missed. Rather
than having them go to wherever the Returning Office was, they could have a
neighbour vouch for them. There were also not as many advance polls or polling
stations. While it was used in the city, its main uptake was in rural
communities. Lots of people, particularly women, would not have had
government-issued ID so vouching was a way around that.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Linda. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: georgia, serif; COLOR: rgb(24,24,24); LINE-HEIGHT: 18px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">"Unless
someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's
not." Dr Seuss.</SPAN><BR></DIV>
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<HR SIZE=1>
<FONT size=2 face=Arial><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Mike
Bulthuis <mike@endhomelessnessottawa.ca><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> homeles_ot-l@list.web.net <BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wednesday, February 5, 2014 3:15:03
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [homeles_ot-l]
"Fair Elections Act" and implications for voters without
identification<BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>FYI: As identified in this morning’s
<I>Ottawa Citizen</I> <A
href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/Conservatives+Elections+Canada/9467629/story.html"
rel=nofollow target=_blank>editorial</A>, there are concerns that the proposed
federal “Fair Elections Act” will have a limiting effect on the ability of
persons who are homeless (or otherwise without government-issued identification)
to vote. For more, I’m sharing a Press Release from our community partners at
the London Homeless Coalition. </DIV>
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<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText><B>‘Fair Elections Act’ Press
Release</B></DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>London Homeless Coalition, February 4,
2014</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>‘Fair Elections Act’ Will Disenfranchise
Those Experiencing Homelessness</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>Today the Conservative Government
introduced the ‘Fair Elections Act’ which provides for a number of electoral
reforms. The London Homeless Coalition is extremely concerned regarding
the elimination of the ‘vouching’ process whereby a registered voter could vouch
for another who lacks government issued identification. Unfortunately,
many who experience homelessness are victims of theft or misplaced personal
effects and find themselves without identification. Those who deliver
street level services put significant energies into vouching for their homeless
clients during elections to ensure that the electoral process is open to all
Canadians. It is the opinion of the London Homeless Coalition that this new Act
will mean that many who have the right to vote as Canadian citizens will not be
afforded the opportunity to do so, and that this disenfranchisement will fall
disproportionately on those experiencing homelessness. We urge the Conservative
Government to reconsider this provision in the Act.</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText><A
href="http://londonhomeless.ca/fair-elections-act-press-release/" rel=nofollow
target=_blank>http://londonhomeless.ca/fair-elections-act-press-release/</A></DIV>
<DIV
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<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>Mike Bulthuis</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>Executive Director</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>171 George Street, Ottawa ON K1N 5W5</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText>613-241-1573, ext. 314</DIV>
<DIV class=yiv5621709045MsoPlainText> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><BR>PLEASE
ADD OUR ADDRESS,<BR><A href="mailto:homeles_ot-l@list.web.net"
ymailto="mailto:homeles_ot-l@list.web.net">homeles_ot-l@list.web.net</A><BR>to
your email contact list.<BR><BR>THEN email your homelessness and housing
messages to that address to reach the full list or to reply to a
posting.<BR><BR>This list is not moderated; there is no editorial
review.<BR><BR>Please try to keep messages to 200KB or less, including
attachments, so that all subscribers are able to receive them.<BR><BR>The
listserv does not permit Blind copy, BCC addresses or the use of too many Send
To addresses. The best thing is to email to this list on its own.<BR><BR>The
Alliance to End Homelessness does not verify the accuracy of submitted messages
nor necessarily endorse the opinions expressed by message authors. Message
authors are solely responsible for content of their
messages.<BR><BR><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
PLEASE ADD OUR ADDRESS,<BR>homeles_ot-l@list.web.net<BR>to your email contact
list.<BR><BR>THEN email your homelessness and housing messages to that address
to reach the full list or to reply to a posting.<BR><BR>This list is not
moderated; there is no editorial review.<BR><BR>Please try to keep messages to
200KB or less, including attachments, so that all subscribers are able to
receive them.<BR><BR>The listserv does not permit Blind copy, BCC addresses or
the use of too many Send To addresses. The best thing is to email to this list
on its own.<BR><BR>The Alliance to End Homelessness does not verify the accuracy
of submitted messages nor necessarily endorse the opinions expressed by message
authors. Message authors are solely responsible for content of their
messages.<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>