Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Siksika Nation Runs Out Of Ballots

Voters from the Siksika First Nation faced long waits and some were even turned away on election day after the Alberta community's polling station ran out of ballots.
Siksika First Nation, located just southeast of Calgary, received 400 ballots for a population of 7,200 residents, reported APTN.


Voters waiting at the Siksika community centre reported on Twitter that there weremajor issues in casting a ballot.

Lowa Beebe, Treaty 7's social media manager, was outraged by the shortage. 

"They knew hours ago that they were getting very low. They knew that this was going to be a high turnout," Beebe told 660 News.
Some voters expressed fears that the ballot shortages were intentional to suppress voter turnout.
"It raises the suspicion that this is a [Conservative leader Stephen] Harper tactic," Siksika nation member Bryan Little Chief told Global News.
An Elections Canada official told the Calgary Herald that voter turnout in the community was much higher than expected.
More ballots were delivered to the poll at about 5 p.m. MT on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of a group representing First Nations in northern Manitoba, said she was told there were not enough ballots on some remote reserves in that province.
She said some voters were given photocopies of blank ballots instead.
North Wilson said the turnout showed the First Nations vote has mobilized and people want change.
Ballot shortages have plagued polling stations across the country, with a higher than expected voter turnout in both the advance polls and on election day.
Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author:  The Huffington Post Alberta  |  By Sarah Rieger
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