By law, on election night, Canadian news organizations aren't allowed to publish results to any part of the country in which the polls are still open.
Because CBC.ca is available everywhere, we can't publish results until 10 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. PST), when the polls close in British Columbia and the Yukon. It also means all live radio streaming for CBC Radio One and Two, normally available 24/7 on CBC.ca, will stop at 7 p.m. EST, when the polls close in Newfoundland and results start to come in, and won't resume until 10 p.m.
This is different than the last federal election. In June 2004, all Canadian media organizations – including CBC.ca – were legally allowed to publish results across the country as soon as they became available. That's because the B.C. Supreme Court, prior to that election, had struck down the results ban.
But in May 2005, the B.C. Court of Appeal reversed the lower court's decision and upheld the ban. A group of news companies, including the CBC, filed a motion earlier this month asking the Supreme Court of Canada to suspend the ban for this election, until an appeal of the reversal could be heard. The court rejected that motion, so the ban stands. The Supreme Court of Canada will probably rule on the appeal before the next federal election.
CBC.ca will be offering election related news, analysis, commentary, quizzes and so on, at www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2006. There will be lots to read and think about, but nothing that will tell you anything about the election outcome.
CBC Radio and CBC TV live election specials will begin 30 minutes before the polls close in each broadcast area.
CBC Newsworld's live election special will begin across the country at 9 p.m. EST. To conform to the law, a blackout will be in effect in B.C. and the Yukon from 6:30 p.m. PST until the poll close there at 7 p.m.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON CBC.ca AT 10 P.M. EST?
CBC.ca will start publishing complete national and riding-by-riding results at www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2006, including vote totals and news stories.
CBC.ca will launch a live video stream of the CBC TV election special. You'll be able to watch the video while simultaneously reading live analysis from CBC.ca's writers, continually updated throughout the night. The video stream and analysis will continue until the TV special ends, at about 2:30 a.m. EST, Tuesday morning.
All the live radio streaming that's normally available on CBC.ca, for CBC Radio One and Two, will resume. This means you'll be able to listen to special election programming in your own location or from other parts of the country.
Both the Radio and TV streams will be available at www.cbc.ca/listen.
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