OTTAWA — The concern about publication of voting results over the Internet is expected to ramp up again on May 2 now that Twitter has become the dominant platform for political news and gossip.
Canada forbids what it describes as "premature transmission" of electoral results across time zones. With polls closing earlier in Eastern Canada than in the West, reporting of results from Newfoundland could influence voters in B.C., the theory suggests.
The agency has formulated an interpretation for passing on local results via social media: "Results disseminated to an individual's friends through Facebook's e-mail service would not be considered public transmission. However, results posted to a Facebook user's wall may be considered public transmission, including cases where the user's Facebook profile is public."
There is no specific reference to Twitter, but Elections Canada spokesman John Enright said the same approach would apply. © Copyright
(c) The Ottawa Citizen
link: Twitter tweaking voting results? Elections Canada warns against online 'transmission'
While the law is clear, I expect Elections Canada to have a lot of people to chase beginning 2011 05 02 8:30 NDT. The policy begs the question of whether BC voters care how Atlantic Canadians vote? Also, why is this seen as such a problem in Canada but not in the USA? Another case of nanny-statism?
