Mayor Gregor Robertson and Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr are worried that Elections B.C.'s decision to ban candidates from using social media today will affect voter turnout at the polls.
Robertson said he was unaware the ban would be in effect until about 48 hours ago and is particularly worried the "last-minute ruling" will suppress the young vote.
"That's a world that they spend a lot of time in," he told reporters on Denman Street as he waited for two of his children to vote at King George Secondary School. "It's public domain and I totally disagree that we should be banned from social media on Election Day."
Carr was also on Denman Street this morning, campaigning a few blocks from King George Secondary School. She called the ban "draconian" and acknowledged it affects the party's strategy to urge people to vote.
"It was certainly not well publicized in advance but we're following the rules, of course," said Carr as she handed out leaflets to pedestrians. "We did have [a social media strategy] built in originally until we read the rules."
NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe said the ban was "reasonable" and that he welcomed "a bit of space" for voters to sort through the campaign platforms. LaPointe said his party was aware of the ban this week.
"I don't think it's a bad thing," said LaPointe after he dropped off sandwiches to scrutineers outside Templeton Secondary School at 12:30 today. "People have oodles of information. I mean, really, our campaign has been loaded with messaging, with advertising, with all sorts of newspaper and other stories. I think people have a lot of material upon which to make up their minds."
COPE mayoral candidate Meena Wong, who was campaigning at Carrall and East Hastings, said "I think it's great to have a day off" from social media when asked how the ban was affecting her campaign.
"Talking to people face to face, that's what I really enjoy, anyway," she said. "Politics is really peope to people, and politicians need to go down to the grassroots, to the neighbourhoods and talk to people and hear what people think."
When told of Robertson's concern about the ban possibly affecting the youth vote, Wong said she was more concerned about more than 1,000 Musqueam Indian Band members being left off the voters' list. The City of Vancouver promised Thursday the members would receive voting cards before election day.
Vision, the Greens, the NPA, COPE and other competing parties have used social media such as Twitter and Facebook almost daily in their campaigns. They've used the services to link to their platforms, events and supply information to voters on where to vote and why it's important to cast a ballot.
Don Main, communications manager for Elections B.C., said the ban was written into the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act which was finalized in May in the B.C. Legislature.
"That information has been available since May and the information was sent to the candidates as soon as they registered, and they were well aware that that information was on our website," Main told the Courier. "We just sent out a reminder yesterday to all of the candidates that tomorrow was Election Day, so just remember that this is what you have to do and what the rules are."
Asked why the ban was put in place, Main said it was to "level the playing field" for all candidates and parties on Election Day. When told that Robertson said he only learned of the ban 48 hours ago, Main declined to comment.
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