[LINK] "Messages provide false polling station info"

[rfmcdonald]

The warning to Ontario's electorate deserves to be widely spread.

Bogus phone messages that mislead voters about their polling stations have caused widespread disruptions in at least two provinces: Ontario and B.C.

The automated messages claim to be from Elections Canada. They advise residents in both official languages that their polling station has been changed due to an unexpectedly heavy voter turnout.

As a result, voters are showing up at the address supplied on the message, only to find it is not a polling station.

The false messages appear to be clustered primarily in ridings where close races are anticipated, meaning a small swing in voting preferences could mean the margin between victory and defeat.

In one riding in Guelph, Ont., the local Liberal candidate has arranged for cars to offer a lift to voters who have been misdirected. The voters are then driven to the proper polling station.

Francine Bastien, an Elections Canada spokesperson, said the office has been fielding scores of calls from frustrated voters in areas, such as Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa.

After the 2008 federal election, the region of Guelph, at least, voted in Conservative MPs.