THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S PAGE

By the Honourable Niki Sharma, K.C.*

AMENDING THE ELECTION ACT: MAKING EVERY VOTE COUNT

I see my job as British Columbia’s Attorney General as making our province more fair, just and equitable. A key part of that is working to make sure the voices of all British Columbians are heard. This is the basis for our justice system and for our election process.

In the era of rapid technological advancements and shifting global landscapes, we cannot afford to fall behind when it comes to our elections process. Secure, transparent and fair elections that accurately represent the will of the people, and regularly updating election legislation, are part of how we make sure that every British Columbian’s voice is represented.

In recent years, public confidence in electoral systems in many jurisdictions has seen a rapid decline. Many of us watched with deep concerns as rumours of foreign interference in the 2016 United States presidential election became substantiated. We also saw an unprecedented influx of disinformation online, evidence of voter suppression, and trust in media decline in the United States and consequently around the world.

Concerns about external influence, the spreading of disinformation, questionable financial contributions and the other types of interference continue to undermine public trust in the integrity of our elections. And while Elections BC has advised that foreign interference has not been a significant issue in B.C. provincial elections, it continues to investigate and enforce Election Act transgressions in these areas.

To address these issues and maintain confidence in our democratic institutions, we must continuously improve the protections that keep our elections fair. In April, amendments to the Election Act passed in the legislature.

The amendments make it easier for B.C. voters to cast their ballots, while continuing to combat disinformation, increase transparency and strengthen third-party advertising rules in the provincial electoral process.

The amendments respond to recommendations made by the independent chief electoral officer in the 2020 Digital Communications, Disinformation and Democracy report, and the 2022 Recommendations for Legislative Change report.

One way that we are modernizing election processes is by leveraging technology to make voting more accessible and convenient. Due to the pandemic, we saw an unprecedented number of advance and mail-in ballots for the 2020 provincial general election. In response, we have made voting by mail and confirmation of ballots more efficient and accessible for people by removing the requirement for a witness declaration, improving the identity verification process and making it easier to drop off ballots at other locations. This not only achieves greater accessibility and saves time, but also empowers more people to exercise their right to vote.

We are also taking steps to make sure our legislation keeps pace with the way people access information today by addressing online political campaigns and election advertising. We established restrictions on intentionally making false statements about candidates and senior officials of political parties, and we are cracking down on the spread of deliberate disinformation about voting eligibility, dates, times and locations.

Additionally, the amendments authorize the chief electoral officer to require all digital platforms that publish election advertising to remove noncompliant content within a specified timeframe. Platforms that fail to remove non-compliant content may face significant and meaningful fines. The amendments also provide authority for the chief electoral officer to impose fines on individuals or organizations that transmit false statements or misrepresent themselves in relation to provincial elections. Combatting disinformation campaigns aimed at manipulating citizens’ perceptions and skewing the electoral outcomes is an imperative.

With these changes, we are building on our previous work, protecting our electoral process from the alarming increase in disinformation available online and ensuring online platforms do their part to support transparency throughout the electoral process. These amendments also complement extensive amendments made to the Election Act in 2019 to implement voting modernization and in 2017 to get big money out of politics.

I want to thank the team at the Ministry of Attorney General and the independent Elections BC office for all their work to ensure we can keep our election processes fair and reflective of the world we live in today.

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