Don’t show your face around here
The electoral office has “done it again”. The latest modification to rules on voting in federal elections, passed as Bill C-31, assure that the identity of any voter will be guaranteed through the use of photo identification cards. Don’t worry, because if your religious beliefs hold that your face should be covered, the picture will assure that it really is you “under there”.
I’m mildly curious. This particular modification doesn’t appear to have come as a response to a need, or a request, or a tradition. It just now is. The Chief Electoral Officer has ruled. Canada, once again, is unique. If the reports from my daily newspapers are to be held as proof, in other parts of the world where a veil is part of the wardrobe, you still lift the veil to vote. Identificatory obligation. When we send in observers to verify voting in other parts of the world, identification of the voter is the number one issue. Ink marks on the hand are sufficient for some. Bracelets that can’t be removed without damage for others.
During the upcoming byelections, simply showing a picture will suffice. No need for it to be your picture. In the end, the amendment will apply to such a small subset of the electorate that it will be effectively useless. Unless, of course, the rest of us decide to veil our faces out of a newfound religious belief, that which says that only God needs to know who we are when we vote.
So, here’s a suggested response to your new rights. I suggest that when you present yourself before the scrutineer, that you carefully present the two necessary pieces of identification, and that you keep your veil in place. (It can be a net to prevent blackfly attacks, if you live in a place where cursing insects is your way of showing that you believe in a higher power).
After all, it is your legal right. And mine.
