Canada’s elections management body announced Tuesday that it does not use Dominion Voting Systems election software, a heavily scrutinized voting software that has been the subject of many conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Elections Canada wanted to assure Canadian voters that they should not have the same concerns Americans have regarding election integrity.
“Elections Canada does not use Dominion Voting Systems. We use paper ballots counted by hand in front of scrutineers and have never used voting machines or electronic tabulators to count votes in our 100-year history,” Elections Canada tweeted Monday.
Dominion’s election system is a voting and vote-tabulating software that is used in more than 30 states. There have been claims that the software glitched during the election, causing votes for President Donald Trump to switch to votes for former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Dominion Voting Systems categorically denies false assertions about vote-switching issues with our voting systems,” the Dominion Voting website says.
Elections Canada swiftly denied that the announcement was intended to create further suspicion about United States election results.
So you agree dominion system is something that shouldn't be used
— I (new account) (@sheeap3) November 17, 2020
But some Americans are now considering Canada’s paper ballot system to be a safer method for federal elections, and believe America should follow suit.
Canada also uses voter ID to ensure accuracy
Common sense voting laws are opposed by only 1 party in the United States
Hmm… wonder why ? https://t.co/tiuIqjlcHB
— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) November 18, 2020
Elections Canada does not use Dominion Voting Systems. We use paper ballots counted by hand in front of scrutineers and have never used voting machines or electronic tabulators to count votes in our 100-year history. #CdnPoli pic.twitter.com/dp7ZiB84ql
— Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) November 16, 2020
President Donald Trump retweeted Elections Canada’s statement Tuesday amid campaign legal battles in several battleground states.
“THIS SAYS IT ALL!” Trump wrote.
Elections Canada does not use Dominion Voting Systems. We use paper ballots counted by hand in front of scrutineers and have never used voting machines or electronic tabulators to count votes in our 100-year history. #CdnPoli pic.twitter.com/dp7ZiB84ql
— Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) November 16, 2020
Reason’s Eric Boehm has criticized the narrative about Dominion Voting Systems, saying that all evidence of fraud with the software can be easily debunked.
“In Michigan, for example, mistakes that election officials said were “human error” led to some results changing as those slips were identified and fixed. A viral tweet that showed Biden suddenly gaining 138,000 votes in Michigan while Trump gained none was the result of a glitch in the reporting system, not the result of vote counting issues. The numbers were quickly corrected,” Boehm writes.
Whether human error or a software glitch, the United States clearly needs to work on improving its election system and should certainly consider Canada’s old-fashioned method of counting paper ballots by hand.