Pierre Poilievre calls for ballot reform to block ‘abuse’ of democracy

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants new rules to stop flooding ballots with candidates.

He said Tuesday that the long list of names lining up to flood the ballot in his upcoming byelection amounts to a “blatant abuse” of democracy.

The federal byelection in Alberta next month has more than 130 candidates running against Poilievre.

Most of them are sponsored by a protest group called the “Longest Ballot Committee.”

The Conservatives want a law passed that would require a candidate to get signatures from 0.5 per cent of the riding’s population, not just 100 people.

The party also wants each signature to be exclusive to one candidate, and for riding agents to be barred from representing more than one person at a time.

Poilievre lost his longtime Ottawa-area riding of Carleton in April’s general election, where there were 91 candidates running.

READ MORE: Alberta byelection called for Aug. 18, Poilievre to run in riding