Last week’s decision to overturn the federal electoral results in Etobicoke Centre should be a giant wake-up call and impetus for meaningful electoral reform.

Canada sends election monitors to emerging democracies all over the world. Meanwhile, we ignore a continuously degenerating process here at home.

Purposefully annoying robocalls and directions to incorrect polling stations are problems that have emerged recently. But the permanent voters’ list is an even greater concern. When political parties have better databases than Elections Canada, clever operators can gleefully take advantage of the situation.

The permanent voters’ list does not work. It’s replete with persons who have long passed away, kids who are now adults living in another jurisdiction and the odd canine member of a family. It is woefully inadequate for new Canadians and those turning 18.

It came into being because of the increasing difficulties finding competent individuals who would undertake the low-paying job of enumerator. Often the only ones willing were seniors and even they became increasingly reluctant. With a dramatic change in the number of women working outside the home, the “housewife” teams were also in short supply. To attract enumerators, the pay would have had to increase substantially, pushing the costs of elections to even greater heights.

And so the so-called “permanent voters’ list” was created.

These lists are used today in federal, provincial and municipal contests and are less and less accurate as each year passes. Huge lineups of local citizens who are not on these official lists must be sworn in at polling stations, adding to the chaos at understaffed voting sites. And mistakes are inevitable, as demonstrated in Etobicoke Centre.

What to do?

Admit the permanent list is a failed experiment that has run its course, and learn from it. The essence of democracy is the right of each qualified citizen to cast his or her vote. It’s not to do it as cheaply as possible but to do it comfortably, quickly and without intimidation.

Several problems can be addressed in one redesigned process: create a valid, accurate voters’ list; make voting a hassle-free experience; increase voter turnout; and inspire an increased interest in the process by young people who seem to be staying away from voting booths in droves.

Bring back a full enumeration, conducted efficiently once every four years, with costs shared by all three levels of government. Build in a simple updating process for the in-between years. Focus on creating a pool of students over the age of 18 who could be trained to do the enumeration and assigned supervisory roles in local elections. University classes could be cancelled on election days and students paid a reasonable stipend for working on these significant events. In fact, a half course credit could be assigned to students who become immersed in the process and complete a required number of hours and tasks. These young people would then become the energetic, intelligent workforce that could inspire their age group to take a renewed interest in the democratic process.

Any increased costs resulting from recruiting young adults would be directed at a group with the highest unemployment and the greatest need. We would be inspiring an interest in democracy in a generation with sadly low participation levels. And we would bring our nation’s electoral process back up to a standard of which we can all be proud.

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I congratulate candidate Borys Wrzesnewskyj on his persistence. The trauma of enduring another election by all the candidates involved in the Etobicoke Centre federal contest could and should have been avoided. Let’s turn their struggle into positive change for the whole country.

Former Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish spent 11 years on Parliament’s procedures and House affairs committee, which reviewed and updated federal election legislation and proposed the permanent voters’ list.