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Canada Tweeters Defy Ban on Reporting Results

Twitter users say law is archaic in electronic age

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted May 3, 2011 5:37 PM CDT

(Newser) – In Canada, reporting election results before the last polls close can result in a $26,000 fine—but this year, Twitter users threw caution to the wind. At first, some used code to hint at results, referring, for example, to the New Democrats’ orange color: “My orange soda is fizzy,” noted one tweet with the hash tag “#notaresult.” Another wondered: “If I used to have three oranges, and someone gave me four more oranges, would I go to jail?”

But half an hour later, posts were openly reporting results, Reuters notes. “Stopping the flow is like plugging a broken damn with paper towel,” tweeted one user. "Canadians have given Elections Canada the middle finger," added another. Twitter prosecutions appear unlikely: “We're not monitoring it,” said an EC spokesperson. Adding to the debate: The CBC accidentally began reporting results from the east early, notes the Toronto Globe and Mail. Coverage was up four minutes before CBC pulled it and apologized.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during a press conference following his majority government win in the federal election.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during a press conference following his majority government win in the federal election.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
hopeandchange
May 4, 2011 11:16 AM CDT
A simple solution is just open and close all the polls across the whole country at the same time. (not times) Yep, there would need to be some compromises taking into account time zones and there would be bleating. The benefits outweigh the negatives.
tricksy_rabbit
May 3, 2011 7:41 PM CDT
Elections Canada needs to NOT release ANY results until ALL polls are closed. It's really not that complicated. Voters in BC said that they would have voted Liberal, but they changed their minds and voted Conservative when they saw the results, because they wanted to avoid the NDP getting any power. Which would be why there was a ban in the first place, for those of you on Twitter who couldn't quite grasp the reasoning. Still, it's not difficult to predict that people would post the results online, which is why Elections Canada never should have posted results before western polls closed.
cornelison
May 3, 2011 6:24 PM CDT
Tories are bad for my wallet. Harper must be a fan of "Raygun." He's going to pull the same stunts & the middle class will bear the brunt of the consequences. Once again, Albertans are trying to be Texas.

 
Canada • election • Twitter • tweet

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