The Longest Ballot Committee floods elections with candidates to protest the first-past-the-post system
When voters go to the polls in Battle River-Crowfoot on Aug. 18, they should expect to see a long list of names.
As of July 16, there are nearly 60 confirmed candidates.
Pierre Poilievre is running for the Conservatives, Grant Abraham is running for the United Party of Canada, Michael Harris is running for the Libertarian Party of Canada, and Jeff Willerton is running for the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.
Aside from those four candidates, the others are running as Independents, Election Canada says.
This occurs because of the Longest Ballot Committee, a political movement in Canada that originated after the 2015 federal election. The group floods elections with candidates to protest the first-past-the-post system.
One of the candidates authorized by the group is from Ontario.
Dillon Anderson put his name forward to highlight the issue that people can run in parts of the country they don’t live in.
“We have to change because somebody from Ontario shouldn’t be able to run in an Alberta riding,” he told BayToday.ca.
But those running with the intent to represent Battle River-Crowfoot want changes to ensure only serious names appear on election ballots.
“We need to get rid of this long ballot,” Poilievre told supporters in Stettler, The Stettler Independent reported. “There’s no justification for it.”
Candidates should require at least 1,000 signatures before appearing on a ballot, he added.
And Michael Harris, the local candidate for the Libertarian Party of Canada, says the long ballot movement does more harm than good.
“If those behind this stunt were truly serious about electoral reform or challenging the political establishment, they’d put their energy behind one principled candidate and run a serious campaign,” he said on X. “Spamming the ballot doesn’t build a movement it weakens the credibility of everyone trying to create real change.”