When Is Not Telling the Whole Truth Not a Lie?

Take Back Alberta is suggesting their supporters infiltrate the enemy campaigns by volunteering to be scrutineers on Election Day.

I write this so you can see, in real time, a democracy destroying example what divisive hyper partisanship creates!

The Take Back Alberta crowd is showing us their true colors in this short clip. They are suggesting UCP supporters, of the Take Back Alberta variety, volunteer to be Voting Day Scrutineers for the parties they oppose. I suppose mostly the NDP candidates.

Scrutineers are citizens, usually partisans, who supervise the vote counting at polling stations to be sure it's a free and fair count. Being an Election Day scrutineer is one of the best ways to see democracy in action and be an Effectively Engaged Citizen at the same time. I encourage you to consider serving our democracy this citizenship role, but for the right reasons.

Scrutineers can, for example, help decide if a ballot is to be counted in rare situations where it's been marked but it may have been in error and the voter changed their minds in the booth, scratching out one choice and making another. The question is always, is the voter’s intention clear.

WHAT DO SCRUTINEERS DO?

Scrutineers can challenge voter eligibility based on vouching, voter ID issues, or otherwise. The Returning Officer is the final word but an argument can be made and noted. In close races that can matter. In the many times I have been a scrutineer, I have never seen any such issues arise, but the times are changing.

Also, and very importantly, Scrutineers are used in campaigns to help get out the vote on election day. They have the party's list of identified supporters for each constituency at the various polling stations. As citizens come into vote and get their ballots, their names are marked on the Voting List as having voted by the Deputy Returning Officers. Those updated lists of who has voted are made available to the scrutineers on a regular basis.

This is vital information for political parties, especially in the last few hours before the polls close. That is because the Scrutineers call into the party Election Day Headquarters, and give the names of all those supporters who voted already.

Volunteers start phoning identified supporters who haven't voted yet to remind them to get out and vote. From about 5:00 pm on, when most citizens show up to vote, these calls to the headquarters are made very frequently and furiously because this information can make or break a victory in close races.

SCRUITINEERS AS SABOTEURS

If you have a scrutineers working in a polling station, and who is not really on your side, they can sabotage and really mess up the Get Out The Vote efforts on election day.

For example, they can fail to call in who has voted already or lie and add in people who have not voted yet and say they have. Those busy citizens voters will get a call to be sure to vote, even after they have voted. Or they will not get called and encouraged to get out and vote if they haven’t yet in the crucial final hours before polls close.

This kind of sabotage is what the Take Back Alberta crowd is implying, or perhaps even suggesting, when they are promoting the idea for their supporters to volunteer to scrutineer for their enemy candidates.

They suggest that not telling the the candidate’s campaign truth about who you are and your intentions when volunteering in this way is not a lie! There are good reasons the oath you take in Court as a witness is the tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That kind of integrity and honesty is not required in our political culture, at least not yet.

I share this post with you just so you know what we are dealing with in our political culture these days. This kind of slick and scuzzy politics will not go away after this election unless We the Citizens demand change and suggest alternatives to keep the integrity and fairness of our elections.