HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Opposition Liberals are continuing to hold up the newly proposed Elections Act in the legislature, arguing the government should delay it until the fall so it can be more closely examined.
The act was introduced May 6th but changed substantially last week.
The government brought 18 pages of amendments and they included voter information provisions and limits on third-party advertising.
Under the changes Elections Nova Scotia would retain information on who voted and give it to the parties, along with voters’ birth years.
Justice Minister Ross Landry says the idea behind giving that information to parties is to find ways to get more people out to vote.
But Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil is skeptical, saying the measure is a cynical attempt to manipulate voter demographics.
The measure would appear to be unique to this province.
Elections Nova Scotia spokesman Dana Doiron says officials haven’t found another jurisdiction where information on whether people voted is provided to parties.
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