[homeles_ot-l] "Fair Elections Act" and implications for voters without identification

[Linda O'Neil]

Hi Mike,
I think ATEH should send out a media release about this on behalf of the sector. What do you think?
I am back in the office as a one-finger typist after breaking my wrist on the weekend (fortunately it’s my left wrist and I’m right handed – also thank god for spell-check). I’ll also get back shortly re Erin’s proposal.
Linda

From: homeles_ot-l [mailto:homeles_ot-l-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of John Carroll
Sent: February-06-14 7:29 PM
To: Linda Lalonde; Mike Bulthuis; homeles_ot-l at list.web.net
Subject: Re: [homeles_ot-l] "Fair Elections Act" and implications forvoters without identification

Hi!
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.
Please find some way for agencies in Ottawa to bring this and other concerns they have re this Bill forward.
Regards
Barbara Carroll E.D. Debra Dynes Family House Inc.
debradynes at on.aibn.com<mailto:debradynes at on.aibn.com>

From: Linda Lalonde<mailto:linda_lalonde_ottawa at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 5:34 PM
To: Mike Bulthuis<mailto:mike at endhomelessnessottawa.ca> ; homeles_ot-l at list.web.net<mailto:homeles_ot-l at list.web.net>
Subject: Re: [homeles_ot-l] "Fair Elections Act" and implications forvoters without identification

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure that this new provision would affect homeless people the way it's being described.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Linda.


"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."  Dr Seuss.
________________________________
From: Mike Bulthuis <mike at endhomelessnessottawa.ca<mailto:mike at endhomelessnessottawa.ca>>
To: homeles_ot-l at list.web.net<mailto:homeles_ot-l at list.web.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 3:15:03 PM
Subject: [homeles_ot-l] "Fair Elections Act" and implications for voters without identification

FYI: As identified in this morning’s Ottawa Citizen editorial<http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/Conservatives+Elections+Canada/9467629/story.html>, 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.


‘Fair Elections Act’ Press Release
London Homeless Coalition, February 4, 2014
‘Fair Elections Act’ Will Disenfranchise Those Experiencing Homelessness

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.

http://londonhomeless.ca/fair-elections-act-press-release/





Mike Bulthuis
Executive Director
Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa
171 George Street, Ottawa ON K1N 5W5
613-241-1573, ext. 314


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PLEASE ADD OUR ADDRESS,
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to your email contact list.

THEN email your homelessness and housing messages to that address to reach the full list or to reply to a posting.

This list is not moderated; there is no editorial review.

Please try to keep messages to 200KB or less, including attachments, so that all subscribers are able to receive them.

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