“On Thursday, Stelmach insisted he had nothing to do with selecting the returning officers. Tom Olsen, a spokesman for the premier, later clarified that Conservative MLAs and Tory constituency associations put names forward to party officials, and those officials submit the list to the chief electoral officer at Elections Alberta. Cabinet then approves the choices through an order-in-council.”Here's some video footage that I took of Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft announcing that an Alberta Liberal government will put the Chief Electoral Officer in charge of ensuring free and fair elections in Alberta, rather than... say... the Progressive Conservative Party. A modest proposal if I've ever heard one...
Sunday, February 17, 2008
a modest proposal.
Calgary Grit has a pretty good rundown of the ongoing Tory CRO appointment scandal and here's a great clip from Friday's Edmonton Journal:
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Call ne naiëve, but how much influence can even the most biased RO have in a given riding/poll? Are we talking maybe rejecting a handful of votes when the difference is going to be hundreds or thousands anyway? Are there any cases of abuse of authority in past elections by blue ROs? I guess that if it was left to an entirely 'unbiased' 3rd party it would keep everyone quiet on the issue (maybe), but guess what, even ROs have political views, and will likely be as biased then as they are accused of being now. If I recall, there is a process that can be followed if someone needs to report a concern, so let's wait and see if there are any legit concerns.
ReplyDelete-Jerry Aulenbach
VoteDorward.ca
ZoomJer.com
Isn't it delightful to live in one of the few places on earth where people have so much faith in the system that they can afford to simply assume that it works perfectly? We here in Alberta need to overhaul the mechanics of our politics, both on the provincial and party levels. Returning officers should be completely seperated from politicians and parties, as they are in the rest of the country. Our parties need to clean up their bylaws and procedures too - to avoid shenanigans like the PC problems in Egmont.
ReplyDeleteAlberta has grown up, and is now both too populous and too diverse for the parochial systems we have inherited. It is time to move on and clean it up.
These are things that every party should have dealt with years ago, and the fact that they remain in progress is an embarrassment to all of them.
Just for information, some excerpts from BC's election act, with some bolding from me:
ReplyDeleteElections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act."
“As a statutory Officer of the legislature, the Chief Electoral Officer REPORTS DIRECTLY TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY THROUGH THE SPEAKER. As an independent Officer, the Chief Electoral Officer can make orders, regulations and exercise responsibilities of the position in an impartial manner. The Chief Electoral Officer cannot be a member of a political party, make contributions to a party or candidate, or vote in any provincial elections.”
Elections Act
“(8) A district electoral officer or deputy district electoral officer must not
(a) be a member of, be an employee of, hold a position with or make a contribution to a registered political party, a registered constituency association or a political party or constituency association seeking registration, or
(b) in relation to the individual's candidacy, be an employee of, hold a position with or make a contribution to an individual who is, intends to be or was a candidate in an election.”
Looks like Rick Bell has been bought off like the 5 dollar 'ho that he is.
ReplyDeleteNow he and Neil Waugh can make sweet, sweet love together on top of Brokeback Mountain.
It's bad enough to come across a Rick Bell column in its natural habitat. But to have a column cross-posted in its entirety? Thank God for my scrolling mouse.
ReplyDeleteRick Bell's idea of wit is to make fun of Kevin Taft for being intelligent and well educated. Oh, and to make fun of his name. Rick Bell -- more like *Dick* Bell! Tee hee!
If quoting Rick Bell is the closest you can come to intelligent discourse, I pity you.