Green party says leader not calling for strategic voting

Elizabeth May isn't saying 'vote Liberal here, vote NDP there,' party says

Last Updated: Sunday, October 12, 2008 | 10:09 PM ET

CBC News

The Green party issued a statement Sunday denying that party leader Elizabeth May is calling on supporters to vote Liberal or NDP in tight races to prevent a Conservative majority.

The Canadian Press quoted her earlier Sunday as saying that "there's no question that there are some ridings where you might say to vote Green you ought to vote NDP to stop a Conservative from winning, and in some ridings you might want to vote Liberal to stop a Conservative from winning."

The story, filed from Halifax, was based on an interview with May.

The party statement called it misleading.

May "has not called on voters to abandon Green party candidates," it said.

She did say that "being honest with the voters, I acknowledge that there is concern over vote-splitting in a small number of ridings. But I am not going to say 'vote Liberal here, vote NDP there,'" the statement said.

The statement also quoted her as saying:

"I do understand how difficult choices can be due to the perverse results of the first-past-the-post voting system. Canada needs an electoral system that accurately represents how Canadians vote.

"I repeated over and over that I would not advise voters to vote for anyone other than Greens. Attempts to misrepresent my position on this issue are tiring. I do not support strategic voting and I have not advised voters to choose any candidate other than Green."

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Canada Votes 2008

Overall Results

Overall Election Results
Party	Elected	Leading	Total	Vote Share (%)
Updated: Nov. 7, 2008, 5:00 PM EST
CON	143	0	143	37.63
LIB	77	0	77	26.24
BQ	49	0	49	9.97
NDP	37	0	37	18.20
IND	2	0	2	0.65
GRN	0	0	0	6.80
OTH	0	0	0	0.51

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Unofficial results were updated at the time shown following judicial recounts in six ridings. For more recent results, visit Elections Canada. The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.

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