Canada's Elections--Muslim Women Won’t Need to Remove Veil to Vote

Sister Maryam
CANADA


Canada's Federal elections are just a few days away,a controversy is back in the newspapers.

It was an explosive issue during the last provincial election in Quebec, now it is back. Elections Canada is ruling that Muslim women will not have to remove their veils in order to vote during the October 14 Federal election.

A new federal law, which received royal assent in June of last year, now requires Canadians to prove their identity before casting a ballot. Voters will be asked for government issued photo-id before being allowed to vote. Those without the required id can provide two other pieces of acceptable identification or have another voter in the district vouch for them.

While Muslim women will be asked for photo-id such as a driver's license, they will not be required to remove their veil. A spokesman for Elections Canada states that women may choose to remove the veil but if they opt not to, they can simply provide a second piece of identification in addition to the driver's license. Women who choose not to unveil will also be given the opportunity to swear an oath and have another voter vouch for them, but Elections Canada says two veiled individuals will not be allowed to vouch for each other.

Quebec's Chief Electoral Officer had taken a similar stance in advance of the last provincial election but later reversed his decision after threats of disruption and howls of complaints. According to some media reports at the time, some opponents of allowing veiled voters were encouraging citizens to show up with masks on.

The words veil, face and Muslim do not appear in Bill C-31 the federal law that requires proof of identity to vote.

Last September, Harper accused Elections Canada of subverting the will of Parliament by permitting Muslim women to wear niqabs or burkas while voting, saying it was at odds with federal legislation passed earlier that year.

But at the time, Mayrand countered that the act does not contain an absolute visual recognition requirement, noting that about 80,000 voters cast their ballots by mail in the last federal election.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said his party will respect the ruling of the elections body.