Election Day: it’s a busy one for journalists. It’s our job to be out in the community, speaking to locals and candidates.
It’s not just because the election is newsworthy. We also feel, in some small way, like our work can help to encourage people to get out and vote (something that was sorely needed this election, with turnout at just 25.5 per cent). There are so many issues a city council deals with, and we believe it’s essential to hear from locals on what is most important to them.
That’s why, on Saturday, we were out at City Hall, hoping to speak to voters as they exited the polling station. We weren’t there to ask who they voted for; rather, about the issues that inform their decisions.
Now, there are rules that come with elections. Elections BC stipulates that there be no campaigning within 100 metres of a polling station. That makes sense. We’re not interested in campaigning. We want to talk about the issues.
But our plans were interrupted by the city’s chief elections officer on Saturday afternoon. Our reporters set up and began asking locals – politely, non-threateningly, and from the parking lot of City Hall – if they’d be interested in being part of our interviews.
The elections officer came out of City Hall guns blazing, yelling that our reporters were committing an elections offence.
They were not. According to Elections BC’s Election Official Quick Reference Guide for Supervisory Voting Officer, the media are allowed in voting places for short periods of time. They are not allowed to film anyone marking their ballot, film the voting book, go behind the elections officials, or conduct interviews inside the voting place. We’ve spoken to representatives at Elections BC as well as the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, who assured us we were within our rights to conduct interviews outside a polling station.
And journalists across B.C. were doing exactly this on Saturday. Quesnel’s reporters were the only ones within Black Press’ family of 70-odd community newspapers that experienced issues that day. (Many of our colleagues were even given permission to photograph inside polling stations.)
This kind of coverage is important to us, and, we believe, important to the city, as well as to voters. What better way to publicize the need to get out and vote then to speak to those who’ve just voted? There was no reasoning with the elections officer, however. She refused to look at the Local Government Act or Elections BC documentation that showed we weren’t in the wrong. She even threatened to call the RCMP if we continued.
We weren’t permitted to do our job. Local opinions and thoughts that could have been heard, weren’t. So much for freedom of the press.
In the interest of keeping the peace, and not wasting the RCMP’s precious time, we opted to drop it. We moved our interviews to speak to voters at CRD polling stations (where we had no issues).
But the fact of the matter remains that a simple, civil conversation could have gone a long way to remedying the misunderstanding. We get it. The rules are confusing.
But instead of a polite chat, members of the local media were yelled at, accused and even threatened in front of other citizens.
Regardless of the fact that we were hindered in doing our job (one which, in this instance, would have benefited the city), it’s more alarming that there are municipal employees who believe it’s OK treat the media as, essentially, criminals, without first giving them the benefit of the doubt.
And, on a larger level, that a city employee would treat people – no matter what their job – with such contempt.
Quesnel Cariboo Observer