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A spokeswoman for Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that he is confident the bill can withstand a constitutional challenge.

“As you know, the new law will require every single voter show a piece of ID before they get their ballot,” said Gabrielle Renaud-Mattey. “Voting without any ID is no more, and no one will be allowed to have someone ‘vouch’ for who they are. After millions of errors and several confirmed cases of fraud with the Voter Information Card, it will no longer be considered acceptable ID.”

As the bill was debated, political critics, academics and representatives of advocacy groups complained that the government was tightening ID requirements although there is little evidence of voter fraud, suggesting the goal is to suppress the votes of voters who are less likely to vote Conservative, such as students and aboriginals.

Shrybman says the application will challenge the law on several grounds. He will ask a judge to stop the government from stripping powers from Marc Mayrand, the chief electoral officer.

“What we’re primarily concerned about is the fact that the government has taken power away from the chief electoral officer, which we think is necessary in a democratic society in order to not only facilitate but encourage Canadians to exercise their democratic rights by voting,” he said.

One particularly contentious section of the bill restricts the ability of Mayrand to promote voting, particularly to groups of voters “most likely to experience difficulties in exercising their democratic rights.”