Most people would agree that the playing field must be level in order to have a fair race. But how can there be fair races if I cannot participate in normal Election Day activities?
There is a maxim that says “A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.” This is true because one can cause more harm than good when not in possession of all the facts.
The Elections Act states in Section 56.2 that if a fixed election date falls on a day of “cultural or religious significance” the chief electoral officer may recommend to move the election to the following Monday. Parliament must have recognized that on rare occasions the Jewish observance of Shemini Atzeret would coincide with election day — there is no other date of religious significance that could make voting a challenge at this point in October.
The Quebec Election of 2018 provides the opposite example. The problem was the same — election day fell on Shemini Atzeret. But this time the date wasn’t moved. The result? Voter turnout in D’arcy McGee plummeted from 72 per cent to 47 per cent. That’s a full quarter of the eligible population. I have heard suggestions that we should send secular Jews or non-Jews in my place to help get out the vote. Under Jewish law I cannot ask a secular Jew to desecrate the holy day on my behalf and I cannot ask a non-Jew to perform tasks that I am forbidden from performing on the holy day.
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