OTTAWA — Two advocacy groups are asking the courts to set aside new Conservative election rules that will make it more difficult for thousands of Canadians to vote in this year's federal election.
The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students have filed evidence to support a constitutional challenge of the 2014 reforms, dubbed the Fair Elections Act by the Harper government.
They say new voter identification rules contravene Section 3 of the charter, which states everyone has the right to vote, as well as the equality provisions in the Constitution.
The groups want a court to grant an injunction setting aside new proof-of-residency identification rules for voters, as well as measures in the new elections law that restrict the ability of the chief electoral officer to inform people about their right to vote.
Lawyer Steven Shrybman, who represents the advocacy groups, says the voter-restriction measures alone are enough to throw into question the legitimacy of the next federal election, which is scheduled for mid-October.
The Fair Elections Act was introduced last spring to near universal condemnation from electoral experts from across Canada and abroad, and the Conservatives eventually removed a number of the most contentious aspects of the bill before rushing it through the House of Commons and the Senate.
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