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Robocall Scandal

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AstroGeek
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29 Feb 2012, 2:06 pm

AstroGeek wrote:
This will probably be just another short-lived Canadian thread, but it's in the news so I thought I'd bring it up. Anyone heard about the robocall scandal? Basically automated calls were made in some ridings during the last Canadian Election directing Liberal (and in some cases NDP and even Green) voters to go to the wrong polling station, or claiming to be from the receiver's party and saying rude things, presumably with the intention of making them not want to vote.

Anyway, it seems that this somehow came from the Conservative Party, who won a majority government (by a margin of ~6000 seats). Here's an editorial on it that I liked:
National Post Editorial

Oh my. I didn't realize I'd said the Conservatives won by 6000 seats. That would be impressive, in a house of 308 seats. I meant 6000 votes. I'd better fix that.



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29 Feb 2012, 3:12 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgx8Y6w72I4[/youtube]


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visagrunt
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01 Mar 2012, 2:46 pm

Did Robocall change the result of the election?

I don't know. We would have needed to see a dozen ridings change hands, which means a sufficient number of voters held back from the polls or changing their declared voting intention. That's a pretty high bar to meet.

But, "I don't know," is not a good enough answer in our Parliamentary democracy. Nothing short of an unquivocal, "No!" is acceptable.

I believe that the Prime Minister is playing his hand badly here.


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AstroGeek
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01 Mar 2012, 2:58 pm

visagrunt wrote:
Did Robocall change the result of the election?

I don't know. We would have needed to see a dozen ridings change hands, which means a sufficient number of voters held back from the polls or changing their declared voting intention. That's a pretty high bar to meet.

But, "I don't know," is not a good enough answer in our Parliamentary democracy. Nothing short of an unquivocal, "No!" is acceptable.

I believe that the Prime Minister is playing his hand badly here.

It would take a lot, but it's not totally implausible. We're only talking ~6000 votes remember. At the very least, there are a few seats which could easily have gone to someone else. And in any case, these dirty tactics are just morally wrong, as I'm sure you'll agree. And yes, the Prime Minister should be taking this seriously rather than dismissing it as a "smear campaign." I'd be much more willing to believe that this was the result of some rogue members of the Conservatives if he was more cooperative and showed more concern.



JudeFarmer
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01 Mar 2012, 5:00 pm

Quote:
Did Robocall change the result of the election?

I don't know. We would have needed to see a dozen ridings change hands, which means a sufficient number of voters held back from the polls or changing their declared voting intention. That's a pretty high bar to meet.


in my riding, i don't think it changed the results this past election, but I know it did in the previous election. Robocalls urged voters to support the NDP candidate, who had dropped out at the last minute. his name was still on the ballot and he recieved hundreds of votes... approximately the margin by wich the incumbent conservative was re-elected.



shrox
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01 Mar 2012, 5:08 pm

If get a robocall from or for a candidate, I will not vote for them.



AstroGeek
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01 Mar 2012, 5:09 pm

JudeFarmer wrote:
Quote:
Did Robocall change the result of the election?

I don't know. We would have needed to see a dozen ridings change hands, which means a sufficient number of voters held back from the polls or changing their declared voting intention. That's a pretty high bar to meet.


in my riding, i don't think it changed the results this past election, but I know it did in the previous election. Robocalls urged voters to support the NDP candidate, who had dropped out at the last minute. his name was still on the ballot and he recieved hundreds of votes... approximately the margin by wich the incumbent conservative was re-elected.

Is there even any way it could have changed the results last time around? Elizabeth May won by a decent margin (bigger than that which gave Harper his "majority"). Also, I thought I heard that the Greens were set up all around the riding helping to direct people to polling stations. Is that true? If so, it probably helped to alleviate some of the effects of the attempted voter suppression.



visagrunt
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01 Mar 2012, 5:41 pm

shrox wrote:
If get a robocall from or for a candidate, I will not vote for them.


So all we have to do is get Robocalls going to you for the candidates that we don't like, and we'll force you into a corner where you wind up voting for our guy. Or staying home, which is just as good.


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shrox
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01 Mar 2012, 5:45 pm

visagrunt wrote:
shrox wrote:
If get a robocall from or for a candidate, I will not vote for them.


So all we have to do is get Robocalls going to you for the candidates that we don't like, and we'll force you into a corner where you wind up voting for our guy. Or staying home, which is just as good.


Yep. But no, I don't vote for president, not while the electoral college is allowed.