ALLOWING POLITICAL PARTIES TO KNOW WHO VOTED

The next few posts will be more political because it is the politicians who are responsible for protecting, but far more often destroy, our privacy, our rights, our democracy. A future post gives some examples of what you can do, that does not include voting.

It’s interesting all the excuses people come up with for why people don’t vote except the obvious – they are revolted and fed up by the turdits called politicians. But the excuses are just another political ploy to try to manipulate people by trying to make them feel guilty; if you had voted this would/would not have happened; the “blame the people” tactic.   There is, however, a slow, but growing recognition, by intelligent people, that many informed people chose not to vote because they are just disgusted by the turdits and their friends.  They know that their vote would make minimal, or no, difference except to legitimize the politicians (there are rare exceptions).   They are now called anti-voters.

The Environics Institute “found Canadians expressing civic disengagement in a number of ways besides voting. These included signing petitions, sharing political information online, and participating in demonstrations and protests”.  (7)

Now BC Bill 20, passed by the BC Liberals, “would allow political parties and others to know who voted in the previous election”. (1) They will be given your name and address (and possibly more), and whether you voted and then they go “dig” for more information. Well, they don’t have to do much digging; it’s one-stop shopping for information in BC.  This will allow them to harrass you, ridicule you, discriminate against you or blackmail you (do you work in government, have a contract with government or does your boss have friends in the government, do you receive money through the government), into voting because THEY need people to vote to justify their existence.

Bill Tieleman says they already have that information, that inside scrutineers pass the information to outside scrutineers (party workers). Well, they should not have it.  Remember the workers are just people who walk into the campaign office and volunteer, no screening required.  The information already given to the politicians and their “workers” tells them, or implies, your gender, whether you live alone, a phone call will tell if you are elderly, etc.  So this information puts you in harms way.

Bill 20 does say in the act that the information is only for the purposes of the act, not commercialization. There are a lot of ways this bill can harm people that does not involve “overt” commercialization.

It also states that political parties/candidates/individuals must file a privacy policy acceptable to the chief electoral officer. That is better than nothing but what is “acceptable” to the chief electoral officer and are they serious about this or are these just “words on paper” as is normal for the government?  What “individuals” would want this information and why?

Will this information be linked to your database profile to sell/trade/barter, next year or some future year? After all, our medical/personal information is suppose to be used only for our health care and yet it is linked to citizens driver’s licence.  And your history of voting, or not, will be maintained in the government database so it can be used for whatever purpose now, and in the future.

“It’s when people do not vote that we get into trouble. Not when we find out that they actually did.”  No, not voting is the sympton.  The disease, or when we get into trouble, is when politicians quit working for us and do all the things listed in the next post and a lot more despicable things.  I think there would be a lot more people voting if the politicians had some integrity, ethics, morals, transparency, and accountability but that is sooo un-politician.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that as trust in politicians/government decline, as belief that we have a healthy democracy declines so does voter participation.  (6, 7)

Some people think we have a duty to vote. I disagree.  We have an duty to defend/get back/evolve our democracy, freedom and rights.  Voting is a tool.  If the tool isn’t working then you discard it and find another tool.  And, I would feel PROUD, not shamed, for NOT voting to defend my province/country against the destroyers of my democracy/rights/freedoms.   I do not have to be on the frontline of a foreign battlefield to defend my country; I can defend my country by doing things such as not voting.

Bill Tieleman defends the bill by saying that Washington state in the USA does it. Well, apparently that automatically makes it right and democratic (sarcasm alert).  After all, the US is listed No.19 on the world democracy index (as defined by the Economist Intelligence Unit), whereas Canada is listed No. 7. (8)  I guess we need to sink lower.

The bill, apparently, isn’t asking to know how people vote but I’m sure that will be next. After all, I have read that the U.S. asks people for their political affiliation.

Also, “the digital revolution has fuelled intensive data analysis south of the border that allows political parties to zero in on people who support rival candidates and then find ways to prevent them from voting”. (The Canadian Press, 22 Sept 2015, The Globe and Mail.  So, the less information parties have on specific voters the better.

Green party MLA Andrew Weaver spoke out against the bill. Weaver says it is an end run around the privacy of British Columbians. (3) “Government watchdog Integrity BC, and B.C.’s privacy commissioner also oppose the bill.” (4)  A poll was done regarding Bill Tieleman’s article and 62% of the people voted for “not only how I voted but that I voted at all should be private”. (1)

BC MLA Moira Stilwell also spoke out against the bill. She said “’she could not find one constituent in her riding who thought it was smart to allow political parties to have voter information, including if someone had voted or not.  They couldn’t see the line between how it would help get people who don’t vote to vote or how it would help to secure governance and enforcement of voting rights.’ Stilwell says giving political parties information like that would be like ‘throwing chum in the water to attract sharks’.  She added the distribution of voter information in the bill are in the interest of political parties and not BC voters.” (2)  I commend her for speaking out but then she just does as her political master tells her, not what the people tell her, and votes for the bill.  And, of course, the other politicians again gave the finger to the people and passed the bill (5).  It’s all about what the politicians want, the people be damned.

I think this just illustrates the desperation of the politicians to get people to vote to legitimize their “power”. I expect the demand by politicians, and their shills, for mandatory voting will also increase.  Anything but giving people a real reason to vote.

How to get people out to vote? Putting “none of the above” on the ballot is one way, if ethics, morals, integrity, transparency and accountability are too much for the politicians.

 

 

 

  1. B.C.’s Bill 20 will combat apathy, Bill Tieleman, 18 May 2015, 24 Hours
  2. BC Liberal MLA breaks party ranks over bill to encourage people to vote, Shane Woodford, 11 May 2015, CKNW
  3. Green party says Bill 20 privacy concerns now much worse, Shane Woodford, 14 May 2015, CKNW
  4. A Know-Who-Voted Bill? Bring It On, Bill Tieleman, 19 May 2015, TheTyee.ca
  5. Bill 20 – 2015, Election Amendment Act, 2015, Third Reading, 26 May 2015
  6. Standing at Door of 2014: Who Shapes the ‘Next’ Canada?, Michael Valpy, 06 Jan 2014, TheTyee.ca
  7. Many Canadians aren’t voting. Have they stopped caring about democracy?, Michael Adams and Maryantonett Flumian, 26 Jan 2015, The Globe and Mail
  8. Democracy Index, Wikipedia