Does any BC citizen believe that the HST referendum result is not yet decided? I, for one, think the current mail-in vote is so full of pretence that it is a travesty. Elections BC claims to be non-partisan but its recent history suggests it is anything but that.
I majored in political science at UBC many years ago and, while my memory can be cloudy at times, I remember studying the fairness process of Canadian parliamentary elections. One of the critical factors in the conduct of a fair election is a rigorous and transparent system of oversight, with participation of election officials but, importantly, also representatives of those competing in the election. To reduce the possibility of error or corruption, scrutineers observe the casting and counting of ballots. The right of partisans to oversee the entire voting process is established by precedent and by statute.
For example, the BC Guide to the Election Act states:
A candidate or their official agent can appoint candidate representatives (scrutineers) to observe voting, registration in conjunction with voting and ballot counting for an election.
After voting ends on General Voting Day, the Voting Officers open the ballot boxes and count the ballots from general voting and advance voting. This is called the initial count.
Candidates and their representatives can watch the initial count.
However, long established fairness rules do not apply to the HST referendum. In the regulations, part 4-16 states:
The only individuals who may be present at a place where counting proceedings are being conducted are
(a) referendum officials, and
(b) individuals authorized to be present by the chief electoral officer.
In other words, BC Liberals and the officials they appointed at Elections BC say,
“Trust us folks. We may not have been truthful about certain other matters, but this time, we’ll be honest. Really, we will.”
Categories: Elections BC, HST
IN-SIGHTS 
I agree with you, Norm. It's very distressing. Seems like there has been a concerted move afoot to erode regulation, oversight, and accountability in all spheres, as if these things were silly trivial luxuries or annoyances. I especially love the “give the conspiracy theories a rest” spin that's often used to undermine those who might question the current direction we seem to be headed in.
Seems to me that any organization with a shred of integrity should be very anxious to demonstrate it by subjecting themselves to “a rigorous and transparent system of oversight” – especially with an issue as contentious as the HST. After all, we are constantly being sold the line that we should not be concerned about our eroding privacy and civil rights because we have nothing to fear from scrutiny if we've done nothing wrong. But this doesn't seem to apply equally to our governments.
I really wish people would wake up. I am tired of living in this nightmare.
LikeLike
Campbell would have never agreed with the referendum, unless it could be cheated. It would be out of character for the Liberals, if they didn't cheat.
That is one reason, I was against the referendum. The ballots for instance. They were screwed up in so many ways. Some households only got one ballot. Some had blank pages. Some were missing inside envelopes. Some ballots were just stacked, in apartment entryways. People that called for new ballots, never even got them.
Not only that, Elections BC stored the ballots away. We should all know by now, what that means. The ballots will be tampered with. Remember, Craig James of Elections BC, changed the wording on the recall, after the fact.
When the HST agreement was pulled from the FOI, those pages were blank, bare, nada. Just like the papers pulled from the FOI, regarding the Olympic debt. They were whited out.
I just can't see why, we would waste all this time, trying to be fair and reasonable with the BC Liberals. They are in the lowest form, of the human species.
LikeLike
Imagine if Elections BC decided that general elections would be conducted in the presence only of their staff and “authorized persons.”
Unhappy supporters of democracy would be told by Liberal hacks to “give the conspiracy theories a rest.”
The only place for secrecy in a voting process is in the choice of an individual voter. We know BC Liberal political mechanics designed this HST referendum process and they have been untruthful about the tax since it was announced by assistant-chief prevaricator Colin Hansen.
During this campaign the pro-HST forces have been using a slogan:
Say no to higher taxes, support HST.”
The fact is that government is taking in more money under HST than they did under the old PST so the slogan should actually read:
Say yes to higher taxes, support HST.”
LikeLike