Elections BC is drawing scrutiny which threatens to undermine taxpayer’s faith in our elections.
That’s a problem.
Here’s the solution: call a public inquiry into Elections BC, not a politicised process through legislative committees working behind closed doors.
There is nothing to suggest the B.C. provincial election was stolen. There is nothing to suggest Elections BC was in cahoots with one party or another. But that doesn’t mean we can afford to turn a blind eye to its mishandling of the most important day in our democratic cycle.
In a democracy, taxpayers must have faith in elections and repeated errors from Elections BC erodes that trust. And make no mistake, Elections BC did mess up its handling of the provincial election.
The problems with Elections BC range from bad to worse.
It took Elections BC more than a week to finish the preliminary tally of votes. Voting closed Oct. 19, but the final count didn’t occur until Oct. 28.
British Columbians shouldn’t be left in limbo because Elections BC workers didn’t stay late to count votes. And it shouldn’t take an extra week for the final count to begin.
Then came the revelation that Elections BC officials were storing ballots in their personal homes. Think about that for a moment. When you cast your ballot, did you imagine it would find its way into the basement of someone’s home?
British Columbians generally believe Elections BC acts in good faith. But why allow questionable chains of custody for the most important pieces of paper in a democracy? Why risk storing ballots in home basements instead of secure government buildings?
In three-quarters of B.C.’s 93 ridings, mistakes by Elections B.C. led to unreported votes. That’s unacceptable.
To be fair, all the votes were eventually accounted for and counted. But our elections are too important to risk with these kinds of blunders.
Both the ruling NDP and Opposition BC Conservatives agree there needs to be an investigation into Elections BC’s mistakes.
The NDP wants an all-party committee made up of MLAs to probe Elections BC. But that’s not good enough.
Legislative committees are political and are made up of politicians fighting for the spotlight. They can hide behind in camera meetings the public doesn’t have access to.
For the public to have faith in our elections, the public needs to be involved in the inquiry. That’s what the BC Conservatives are calling for: an independent public review.
British Columbians need to have faith in our elections, so the public must be a part of the investigation. This is far too important an issue for taxpayers to be shunted off to the side while politicians play partisan games.
Carson Binda is the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
