Some Canadians are getting creative in an effort to make their vote count this election.
They’re “vote swapping” and a Facebook page called Vote Swap Canada is promoting the idea in an effort to defeat Conservative leader Stephen Harper.
The idea is that if you don’t think your preferred party will win your riding, you can go online and swap your vote with another person in a different riding.
Political scientists think it could have an impact on this year’s outcome, but Elections Canada is warning against the idea.
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Dorothy Sitek with Elections Canada told Global News encouragement to vote in a particular way for a specific candidate or party is permitted by the Canada Elections Act.
The act also allows electors to take part in strategic voting, whether it is on the internet or in other forums, says Sitek.
“We ask electors to be cautious when partaking in these types of activities as they have no assurance that an agreement to vote swap will be carried out by the other person, as voting is secret,” she says.
Furthermore, they could be subject to misrepresentation. For example, someone could be acting under multiple or false identities to trick them into voting for a particular candidate.
“It is an offence under the act to offer a bribe or induce an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate,” says Sitek. “It is also an offence to accept a bribe for the same purpose.”
Moreover, Elections Canada does not allow voters to take a photo of their marked ballots or share the photos of their marked ballots taken inside a polling station, meaning no one can ever prove if they have voted as promised.
With files from Catherine Urquhart
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