Do You Favor Election Blackouts?

The Supreme Court is being asked to hear a case on election blackouts:

OTTAWA — A B.C.software developer says there needs to be a balance between Internet technology and Canadian laws on publication of election results.

Paul Bryan is at the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday, arguing against a section of the Elections Act that prevents people on the West Coast from hearing Eastern election results as polls close.

Mr. Bryan says the law, which forbids the publication of voting results until all federal polls close on election night, is not practical and cannot be enforced.

The Coquitlam resident deliberately broke the ban during the 2000 federal election by posting voting results from Atlantic Canada on his website while polls were still open in British Columbia.

He was convicted in provincial court and fined $1,000.

That conviction was struck down by the B.C. Supreme Court before the 2004 federal election, but later upheld by the B.C. Court of Appeal in the spring of 2005.

In my mind, there are good reasons to keep the blackout in place, although the new technology makes it impractical. All voters should enter the polling booth under the exact same circumstances. I suspect the feelings in the West, that their votes don't matter, would only be heightened if results were known prior to voting. Some people, internally debating whether or not to vote, just prior to the polls closing, might see the results and take a pass.

One option, have all the polls close at the exact same time- possibly open them the night before in the later time zones for complete fairness. In this way, all Canadians could watch the results together and every riding would have the same psychological impact. Eliminate the power of the time zone by whatever means necessary. If an election is on a Tuesday, open the polls Monday evening in the West to give the same access(many countries have multiple day votes).