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Robocall scandal by the numbers: 200 ridings allege election fraud
Opposition vote-stealing allegations are unproven, but misleading election phone calls are now reported in up to 200 ridings - some of them razor-thin Conservative wins as low as 18 votes. VO crunches the numbers to bring you 11 "Tory majority" fraud-call ridings to watch.
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7. Winnipeg South Centre, Manitoba:
You don't necessarily have to be a fan of the Liberals to see the significance of losing this traditionally Liberal riding. Former foreign affairs minister (and now the local university's chancellor) Lloyd Axworthy held this seat for years, which his party has ruled since 1988. Who is Conservative MP Joyce Bateman? Hitherto unknown, the candidate knocked the incumbents out by 722 votes – under two percent of the vote. (Source: National Post, CBC).
8. Don Valley East, Ontario:
* February 29 update: With slightly more than a two-per cent win here, Conservative Joe Daniel racked up 870 votes over Liberals' three-term incumbent Yasmin Ratansi. But for two terms (1984-93), Liberals held this riding since 1980. (Source: National Post).
9. Willowdale, Ontario
* March 21 update: Liberals held this seat since 1980, and there was little to explain why two-term MP Martha Hall Findlay lost her seat to newcomer Chungsen Leung by only 1.8 per cent (961 votes). The Conservatives gained nine per cent of the vote since 2008 – directly bleeding the Liberals of roughly the same percentage. Suspicious? Particularly when there were reports of voters sent to wrong polling stations, and harassing calls to Jewish homes on the Sabbath. (Source: CBC, CBC).
10. London North Centre, Ontario:
Conservative Susan Truppe's 1,665-ballot win might seem like a lot of voters – could fraudulent calls have really booted out the Liberals after 44 years of rule (except for a single Conservative term in the 80s) in this south Ontario riding and its predecessors? But 1,665 amounts to only three per cent of voters – and don't forget the huge numbers of citizens who could have been reached by automated call technology. (Source: Liberals).
11. Vancouver Island North, B.C.:
* March 1 update: 1,827 ballots. The difference between Conservative incumbent (and Indian affairs minister) John Duncan and the NDP's Ronna-Rae Leonard. Granted, Duncan is well-known in this area - he represented the right here since 1993 as Reform, Canadian Alliance and then Conservatives until the NDP grabbed it in 2006. In 2008, Duncan was accused of recording a secret NDP conference call. (Source: CHEK TV News).
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