The non-partisan independent agency in charge of national elections has launched a new tool to help people sort out fact from electoral fiction.Elections Canada is trying to insulate Canadian voters from false narratives and information during the next federal election by launching an online tool to help voters cut through misinformation and disinformation about the electoral process in Canada. The ElectoFacts website, launched January 9, provides factual information to debunk the most common misconceptions observed by Elections Canada officials in recent years.In a statement, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault said, "Building resilience against inaccurate information helps strengthen the overall health of democracy. Referring to 'ElectoFacts' is one additional step electors can take to ensure they are informed and have accurate information about the electoral process."The ElectoFacts website says that it does not intend to establish Elections Canada as "the arbiter of truth" that will actively monitor the accuracy of statements and information distributed by parties and candidates. The agency said it will instead focus on providing correct information about elections that Canadians can easily access.The ElectoFacts website lists eight categories of disinformation, including special ballots, ways to vote, the counting process, voting technology, foreign interference, the administration of elections, the administration of Elections Canada and campaign financing.Each category includes an example of "inaccurate information observed" along with an accompanying and detailed explanation of what is accurate.Elections Canada said one false claim was that 205,000 mail-in ballots were "lost, ignored" or deliberately not counted during the 2021 federal election. The agency explained that of almost one million special ballots given in 2021, 883,000 (88%) were returned on time and counted. Those that arrived late were not counted, but are kept for a ten-year period. The special ballots information explains the ways Elections Canada ensures people who vote by mail cannot vote again in person. The agency also addressed whether votes can be bought by bribes, whether non-citizens can vote and whether Elections Canada rigs the vote. The site said votes are counted by hand and that there were no plans to use internet voting or “ballot-counting technology” for federal elections.“While Elections Canada does not use automatic ballot-counting machines, they are successfully and securely used by election agencies in many other jurisdictions,” the site insisted.Rumours that Elections Canada was setting up electronic lists of registered voters was not entirely true, the site explained.“Elections Canada will first use electronic lists in a pilot project in a by-election before they are deployed on a wider scale. The data on electronic lists, like all electoral information, will be stored on a secure database in Canada, accessible only through a secure private network. Information security is a fundamental part of every new IT system or process that we develop,” the site explained.In June of 2022, Perrault published a report that called for a crackdown on hate groups, improved regulation of third parties and new laws to make it illegal to spread disinformation about elections and voting.In the report, Perrault also called for laws to make it illegal to spread information to disrupt an election or undermine its legitimacy. He warned disinformation could "jeopardize trust in the entire electoral system on which democracies rest."In 2011, the “robocalls” scandal saw voters in Guelph, ON misled about where their polling stations were. Perrault said existing laws could cover that, but not a broader set of problems."But there's nothing right now in the legislation where there is a deliberate campaign to undermine the process or undermine confidence in the result," Perrault said. “This complements a number of existing provisions."The Canadian Election Misinformation Project by McGill University and the University of Toronto examined misinformation and disinformation during the 2021 election. It concluded the bad information had minimal impact on election results
The non-partisan independent agency in charge of national elections has launched a new tool to help people sort out fact from electoral fiction.Elections Canada is trying to insulate Canadian voters from false narratives and information during the next federal election by launching an online tool to help voters cut through misinformation and disinformation about the electoral process in Canada. The ElectoFacts website, launched January 9, provides factual information to debunk the most common misconceptions observed by Elections Canada officials in recent years.In a statement, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault said, "Building resilience against inaccurate information helps strengthen the overall health of democracy. Referring to 'ElectoFacts' is one additional step electors can take to ensure they are informed and have accurate information about the electoral process."The ElectoFacts website says that it does not intend to establish Elections Canada as "the arbiter of truth" that will actively monitor the accuracy of statements and information distributed by parties and candidates. The agency said it will instead focus on providing correct information about elections that Canadians can easily access.The ElectoFacts website lists eight categories of disinformation, including special ballots, ways to vote, the counting process, voting technology, foreign interference, the administration of elections, the administration of Elections Canada and campaign financing.Each category includes an example of "inaccurate information observed" along with an accompanying and detailed explanation of what is accurate.Elections Canada said one false claim was that 205,000 mail-in ballots were "lost, ignored" or deliberately not counted during the 2021 federal election. The agency explained that of almost one million special ballots given in 2021, 883,000 (88%) were returned on time and counted. Those that arrived late were not counted, but are kept for a ten-year period. The special ballots information explains the ways Elections Canada ensures people who vote by mail cannot vote again in person. The agency also addressed whether votes can be bought by bribes, whether non-citizens can vote and whether Elections Canada rigs the vote. The site said votes are counted by hand and that there were no plans to use internet voting or “ballot-counting technology” for federal elections.“While Elections Canada does not use automatic ballot-counting machines, they are successfully and securely used by election agencies in many other jurisdictions,” the site insisted.Rumours that Elections Canada was setting up electronic lists of registered voters was not entirely true, the site explained.“Elections Canada will first use electronic lists in a pilot project in a by-election before they are deployed on a wider scale. The data on electronic lists, like all electoral information, will be stored on a secure database in Canada, accessible only through a secure private network. Information security is a fundamental part of every new IT system or process that we develop,” the site explained.In June of 2022, Perrault published a report that called for a crackdown on hate groups, improved regulation of third parties and new laws to make it illegal to spread disinformation about elections and voting.In the report, Perrault also called for laws to make it illegal to spread information to disrupt an election or undermine its legitimacy. He warned disinformation could "jeopardize trust in the entire electoral system on which democracies rest."In 2011, the “robocalls” scandal saw voters in Guelph, ON misled about where their polling stations were. Perrault said existing laws could cover that, but not a broader set of problems."But there's nothing right now in the legislation where there is a deliberate campaign to undermine the process or undermine confidence in the result," Perrault said. “This complements a number of existing provisions."The Canadian Election Misinformation Project by McGill University and the University of Toronto examined misinformation and disinformation during the 2021 election. It concluded the bad information had minimal impact on election results