Canada gives in to tweeters by lifting election reporting ban
Roy Greenslade Tuesday 17 January 2012
Canada‘s government has agreed to lift election-night blackouts on election results.
In future, it will allow federal election results to be released as they become available instead of making Canadians wait for the last polls to close on the west coast.
It bowed to the inevitable after tweeters defied the ban during elections last May, relaying results from the east before the final votes were cast in the western province of British Columbia.
The repeal of the 70-year-old section of the Canada Elections Act was announced on Twitter – where else? – by government minister Tim Uppal.
It was time, he said, to bring Canadian elections into the 21st century by getting rid of an outdated and unenforceable law.
Sources: Globe & Mail/National Post/CBC
In future, it will allow federal election results to be released as they become available instead of making Canadians wait for the last polls to close on the west coast.
It bowed to the inevitable after tweeters defied the ban during elections last May, relaying results from the east before the final votes were cast in the western province of British Columbia.
The repeal of the 70-year-old section of the Canada Elections Act was announced on Twitter – where else? – by government minister Tim Uppal.
It was time, he said, to bring Canadian elections into the 21st century by getting rid of an outdated and unenforceable law.
Sources: Globe & Mail/National Post/CBC
