Re: New Rules Stopped 450,000 Canadians from Voting.

I disagree with the assumptions made in the Feb. 9, 2009 article. Our Conservative government is committed to ensuring that all Canadians who are eligible to vote are able to while at the same time strengthening the integrity of the electoral process, preventing voter fraud, and ensuring that Canadians have confidence in their voting process.

Changes to the Canada Elections Act, passed in the last Parliament, require electors to prove their identity and show proof of residence before voting. The act provides voters several convenient ways to prove their identity and residence.

Electors can provide a piece of identification with their photo, name and address, or two pieces of identification as long as both pieces contain their name, and one contains their address. Dozens of pieces of identification qualify, including everything from a utilities bill to a fishing license. Eligible voters can also swear an oath and be vouched for by another elector whose name appears on the list of electors in the same polling division and has acceptable identification.

Advance polling days sought

Our government also introduced legislation in the last Parliament to provide for two additional advance polling days, which would have given Canadians additional opportunities to vote.

Unfortunately, the opposition parties severely watered down the bill by supporting an amendment to remove its most important feature, the proposed advance polling day on the Sunday before Election Day.

I encourage readers to consider the many positive changes our Conservative government has put in place by visiting http://www.canada.ca/.

It is also my hope that the opposition parties have had an opportunity to reflect on their unhelpful obstruction of our government initiatives and hope that in the future they will be more constructive and supportive of our democracy improvement initiatives.

Steven Fletcher

Minister of State for Democratic Reform

Related Tyee stories:

• New Rules Stopped 450,000 Canadians from Voting
  Upped ID requirements may have affected some close federal races.
• Strategic Voting 2.0
  How the web has changed our ability to target, and swap, votes.
• Poll reporting ignores voting system unfairness