Time for some post-election housekeeping.
I know, I know, it’s a little late.
But I took some time off after the big vote to cool off my typing fingers.
Now that I’m back, I wanted to get to the bottom of a so-called controversy raised by some readers about an email message that Vision Vancouver circulated on election day.
It was authored by Vision’s executive director, Stepan Vdovine, who urged party members to re-elect Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision candidates. The concern from readers was that such an email on election day was in contravention of the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act and gave Vision an edge at the polls.
Here’s what one senior staffer on the NPA campaign sent me on election day:
“Hi. Our lawyers tell us the email is illegal. Our understanding is, on general voting day, candidates and elector organizations cannot use social media, including transmitting messages about getting out to vote.”
The staffer was right about the social media ban, which I wrote about in an online story on election day. None of the parties appeared to contravene the ban, although Vision staffer Marcella Munro was active on Twitter that day, which was apparently allowed under the rules.
But “transmitting messages about getting out to vote?”
Is that what Vision did?
First, here’s the guts of what Vdovine wrote:
“It’s election day and polls opened a few hours ago. Have you voted yet? We’re in a close race with the NPA and every vote counts. You’ve been a member of this campaign, knocking on doors, calling supporters and putting up signs. You’ve helped Vision connect with thousands of Vancouverites, talking about the issues and getting people engaged in the election.”
Vdovine’s email goes on to say there are close to 120 voting stations and, again, urges the recipients of the email to vote for Robertson and the Vision team.
So what’s wrong with that?
Apparently nothing, according to Rachel Penner, a communications coordinator at Elections B.C., the agency tasked with overseeing all campaign financing and advertising regulations for the civic elections. Part of the agency’s job is ensuring parties or candidates don’t advertise on election day.
“An email specifically sent by an organization to its own members isn’t election advertising,” said Penner, noting Elections B.C. was aware of concerns over Vision’s email on election day because of the buzz on social media. “So then we did have to follow up on that and confirmed that it was an email that was sent to members, versus an election advertising thing.”
If that email was then forwarded from a Vision member to someone not affiliated with the party, that type of transmission is also not in contravention of the Act because it did not come directly from the party, Penner said.
So there you have it, Vision’s email wasn’t illegal.
Check section 7 of the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act for more detail.
Note: Left a message Monday with Vdovine to discuss the email in question but hadn’t heard back before I filed this piece. He’s probably getting ready for the inauguration Dec. 8 of the new council, which isn’t really that new. The NPA’s Melissa De Genova is in, Vision’s Tony Tang is out.
Which means four more years of Vision rule.
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