A ballot protest has targeted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s riding in the Ottawa neighbourhood of Carleton, with 91 people running to be a Member of Parliament in the upcoming federal election.
The protest was organized by the Longest Ballot Committee, an organization that has been calling for electoral reform in Canadian elections since 2021.
Their protests come in the form of gathering large numbers of independent candidates to run in elections, more specifically federal elections.
With nearly 100 names running in the riding of Carleton, including Poilievre, the group has now created one of the longest ballots in Canadian federal election history. The Conservative leader has held his seat since first being elected in 2004.
“The whole point is to really push our democratic rights, which is being able to join Parliaments as an individual, move away from what’s kind of leaning towards that two party system where it flip flops back and forth,” committee member Krzysztof Krzywinski told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
The committee says its main goal is to see election rules be passed to a permanent, independent, non-partisan body such as a citizens assembly.
Kryzwinski, whose name is also on the ballot in Carleton, is also focused on pushing back against Canada’s ‘first past the post’ system where the winner takes all in an election, even if a majority of voters do not favour the candidate. He is instead pushing for different systems such as ranked ballots which are used in leadership races, like in the Liberal leadership contest last month.
“All the major parties used ranked ballots… Why aren’t they doing the same for the rest of Canada?” he said.
While the group is often criticized for their methods, Kryzwinski highlights that it is simply trying to execute change while exercising their democratic rights.
“As a Canadian, you have the right to vote. You also have the right to run for Parliament, and that’s all we’re doing. We’re just running for Parliament,” he said.
FLOODING BALLOTS WITH CANDIDATES UNLIKELY TO MAKE CHANGE, EXPERT SAYS
University of Toronto Statistical Sciences Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal says that while it is highly unlikely to change the outcome of the election, ballot protests can slightly impact voters due to the confusion it causes.
“Whether it’s lots of people on the ballot, or a poorly designed ballot… a little fraction of a per cent might get a little confused. And if you have a really close election, it can make the difference,” he said to Now Toronto.
Rosenthal points to the 2000 U.S. presidential election where Palm Beach County in Florida had a confusing ballot layout known as a Butterfly Ballot, and because of this Florida was won by George Bush instead of Al Gore in a tight race, which impacted the entire election.
Rosenthal says that in the case of the Carleron ballot protest, Poillievre is still likely to win his seat in Carleton.
However, in an email statement to Now Toronto, Elections Canada makes it clear that this could still impact election day in some capacity.
“Due to the unusual circumstances created by the number of candidates on the ballot in Carleton, the results for that electoral district will likely take longer to report and publish on elections.ca on election night,” the statement said.
Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Stephane Perrault, already raised concerns about this in November 2024 when speaking to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs about Bill C-15 which will amend the Canada Elections Act.
“We have now reached the point where any further increase to the number of candidates will require me to reduce the font size on the ballot, further compounding accessibility challenges,” he said.
Perrault said the government should also consider limiting candidate nomination votes to one per resident to avoid long ballots, however Krzywinski says there is a better solution.
“There’s a simple fix. Just bring it to a citizen-led, non-partisan choice for how we do our elections.” he said.
