C. Conclusion

AuthorRobert J. Sharpe - Kent Roach
ProfessionCourt of Appeal for Ontario - Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Pages220-221

Page 220

The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights possessed by citizens in a democracy. In the cases that have come before the courts, judges have shown little sympathy for laws that deny the right to vote to particular groups or that discriminate against smaller, more marginal political parties. On the other hand, the courts have respected the historical and representational underpinnings of electoral-boundary design and hesitated to interfere with legislative judgment that is designed to promote the equality of all voters. The courts have also protected the rights of minority political parties to play a meaningful role in elections.

FURTHER READINGS

BREDT, c, & M KREMER, "Section 3 of the Charter: Democratic Rights at the Supreme Court of Canada" (2005) 17 NJCL 19

CARTER, M, "Reconsidering the Charter and Electoral Boundaries" (1999) 22 Dal LJ 53

CHARNEY, R, & z GREEN, "It’s My Party and I’ll Run if I Want To: Figueroa, Harper and the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party" (2006-2007) 21 NJCL 257-70

COURTNEY J, P Mackinnon, & D SMITH, eds, Drawing Boundaries: Legislatures, Courts, and Electoral Values (Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1992)

COURTNEY, J, Commissioned Boundaries (Montréal: MCGILL-Queen’s University Press, 2002)

DAWOOD, y, "Electoral Fairness and the Law of Democracy: A Structural Rights Approach to Judicial Review" (2012) 62 UTLJ 499

FEASBY, c, "Libman v Quebec (AG) and the Administration of the Process of Democracy under the Charter: The Emerging Egalitarian Model" (1999) 44 MCGILL LJ 5

FEASBY, c, "Issue Advocacy and Third Parties in the United Kingdom and Canada" (2003) 48 MCGILL LJ 11

FRITZ, R, "Challenging Electoral Boundaries under the Charter" (1999) 5 Rev Const Stud 1

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GEDDIS, a, "Liberté, Egalité, Argent: Third Party Election Spending and the Charter" (2004) 42 Alta L Rev 429

KNIGHT, t...

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