A B.C. man appeared before Canada's top court on Monday arguing against an election gag law that prevents people on the West Coast from hearing eastern results as polls close.

Paul Bryan, in Ottawa for the Supreme Court of Canada hearing, says a Canada Elections Act section, which bans the publication of voting results until all federal polls close on election night, isn't practical and can't be enforced.

Paul Bryan, a B.C. software developer who was before the Supreme Court in Ottawa on Monday, says there needs to be a balance between internet technology and Canadian laws on publishing election results.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Bryan, a Coquitlam software developer, deliberately broke the election gag law during the 2000 federal election.

He posted results from Atlantic Canada on his website before polls closed in B.C. He was convicted in B.C. provincial court and fined $1,000.

The conviction was overturned in 2003 by the B.C. Supreme Court, which struck down the gag law section of the elections act.

That allowed media companies in the 2004 election to tell voters in Western Canada what the results were further east while polling stations in B.C. were still open.

But the B.C. Court of Appeal later reversed the lower court's decision and upheld the ban, saying it promotes fairness and ensures all voters receive equal treatment on election day.

During the last election, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected an appeal by a group of media organizations to lift the publication ban.

The media wanted the ban lifted so results could be published online and broadcast nationwide as soon as they became available.

In a motion filed with the top court, various media outlets wrote that any impact on other voters would be minimal and should "not justify infringing the expression rights of literally several millions of Canadians."

With files from the Canadian Press