The Ontario government is cracking down on the kind of bogus automated phone messages that caused widespread disruptions on voting day in the federal election by misleading people about the location of their polling stations.
The government introduced legislation on Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone to attempt to stop voters from casting a ballot in a provincial election by tricking them into showing up at the wrong polling station. The Ontario Elections Act already bans "corrupt" practices, but the amendments would explicitly target deliberate attempts to misdirect voters to the wrong polling station.
The maximum penalty for those convicted of election fraud would be imprisonment for two years less a day plus a fine of up to $25,000. The current maximum penalty is a jail term of six months and a fine of $5,000.
"We heard loud and clear about the allegations during the recent federal election and thought our law should contain the appropriate protections," said Ontario Attorney-General Chris Bentley, adding that he was surprised that the province's legislation did not expressly prohibit such conduct.
The false messages during the federal election were apparently clustered in ridings with close races where a small swing in voting choices could mean the margin between victory and defeat. The messages advised residents that their polling station had been changed due to an unexpectedly heavy voter turnout and supplied a false substitute location.
Elections Canada spokeswoman Diane Benson declined to say on Tuesday whether her office is investigating the matter.
Ontario is playing catch-up with other regions. Both the federal government and many other regions in Canada have laws in place making it illegal for someone to impersonate an agent of Elections Canada or one of its provincial counterparts.
Mr. Bentley said he would like the changes to be in place in time for the provincial election in October. But opposition members accused the government of slapping the bill together at the eleventh hour. The provincial legislature sits for just six more days before adjourning on June 2 for the summer.
New Democrat MPP Peter Kormos said the legislation came "right out of the blue," because Liberal House Leader Monique Smith told him last week the government would not introduce any more bills during the current session.
"It's not the smoothest move in the world," Mr. Kormos said in the legislature. "Sometimes, these Liberals couldn't organize a drunk-up in a brewery."
Karen Howlett