I find the sometimes crossover partisan nature of what happens in polling stations just odd. The first returning officer I sat down with in my first election said, “Hi, I'm so-and-so, and I'm a Liberal.” I didn't know that happened. I was new to politics and didn't understand why that happened.
Again, sometimes we have to imagine the worst-case scenarios, not the best-case scenarios, when we're designing these laws. Many laws are only designed for worst-case scenarios. With this new 50% provision offered to returning officers, is it not possible that returning officers who are of a more partisan nature and like their partisan family might hire from only one party and then essentially have virtually all returning officers coming in at their discretion?
I'm just asking for scenarios in which that election officer is dealing with somebody of an “opposing” party. Is that possible with this provision that's coming later in the bill? I say that through you to our witnesses.