Mayoral candidate Bill Crumplin is questioning the ethics of his competition who are campaigning with iPads or tablets to help people vote.
He said he believes by doing so, Sudburians may feel obligated to vote for the candidate provididing the electronic device.
“I question the psychology behind and the ethics of supplying an i-pad to a voter,” he said.
Full news release below:
Mayoral candidate Bill Crumplin was recently asked by Radio Canada if he or his team was campaigning with electronic technology to assist people to vote. “No,” Crumplin said, “but I overheard a campaign manager for another mayoral candidate explaining this strategy a few weeks ago”.
He went on to say, “I did not implement this idea. For me, I feel travelling with an i-Pad or tablet to assist or encourage people to vote might make the voter feel obligated to vote for the candidate with the i-pad. For that reason, I could not bring myself to implement it.
Crumplin says that campaigning during the election period with a tablet “is being done under the guise of assisting people who are not comfortable using a computer, who are not able to vote on-line or those who live in a retirement home and cannot get to a poll easily.”
However, he goes on to stress, “I, like many citizens, feel that this is likely to sway voters to vote for the candidate who is offering the use of the tablet. In this situation, a voter is very likely to feel beholden to the candidate who is offering the use of the tablet. In short, this practice does not pass the smell test.”
He concludes by saying that, “I think is speaks volumes about the ethics of candidates employing this tactic and raises questions: Are the polls showing that they are not front runners and are, therefore, desperate for votes? Do they not see that this tactic has ethical implications? What does it say about a person who is running for Mayor, but has no problem employing a questionable campaign practice?”
