Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sent a letter to senior Liberals, urging immediate action against the Longest Ballot Committee (LBC). Their efforts in the upcoming Battle River-Crowfoot byelection and in Carleton constitute "blatant abuse of our democratic system," he writes.

"This is not democracy in action. It is a deliberate attempt to manipulate the rules, confuse voters and undermine confidence in our elections," Poilievre wrote of the protests, whom he referred to as the "longest ballot scam."

The movement, which opposes the first-past-the-post system and calls for electoral reform, has been subject to considerable debate and whether their antics constitute electoral interference.

Poilievre urged Liberal House leader Steve MacKinnon to amend Canada's election rules to limit long ballot protests, stating legislation should be brought before the Commons in September.

The former MP proposes reducing candidate nomination signatures from 100 to 0.5% of a riding's population (e.g., Battle River-Crowfoot: 423 of 84,515 electors), limiting electors to one signature and candidates to one official agent.

Last week, Poilievre suggested increasing the signature threshold for nominations to 1,000 to hinder "paper candidates" from getting on the ballot.

Go Ad Free

Organizers rebuked his suggested rule changes in an email to CBC News, stating politicians like him should “recuse themselves” from election rules due to an "inappropriate conflict of interest."

Tomas Szuchewycz, official agent for Longest Ballot participants in Carleton and this byelection, manages campaign finances and reports to Elections Canada.

Poilievre’s letter omitted similar LBC attempts in Liberal strongholds, like Toronto-St. Paul's and LaSalle-Émard-Verdun in 2024. The protest group were behind 85 of the 91 candidates in Carleton in the April federal election. 

Why did Pierre Poilievre lose the election?

The most important factor in this election was Jagmeet Singh happily euthanizing the NDP, taking it down to just 6.3% and 7 seats.

Under Pierre Poilievre, the Conservatives received a higher vote share than any party has since 1988:… pic.twitter.com/Lb9SxICXUQ

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 29, 2025

Poilievre went on to lose to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy by 4,513 votes. Independent and fringe candidates received 817 votes in the redrawn riding.

Lengthy ballots in those elections caused delayed counts and voter confusion.

Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault warned in November 2024 that the protest movement could hinder voting for Canadians with language or accessibility barriers, due to smaller font sizes on larger ballots.

Perrault suggested to MPs that the law be changed to prevent an individual from signing candidacy papers for multiple candidates; nomination papers for Largest Ballot participants have “largely identical signatures.”

Conservative MP Ned Kuruc earlier sponsored a Commons petition to modify electoral law. It closed July 12 with 31,840 signatures.

More than 90 candidates backed by the Longest Ballot Committee ran in Carleton to help defeat Poilievre on April 28. The group said it will 'do our best to make a long ballot happen [again].'

READ MORE: https://t.co/2CFSUhXJV5 pic.twitter.com/v0AJHXTnly

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 7, 2025

Independent candidates, not affiliated with the LBC, argued the group’s interference undermined its stated goal of strengthening democracy and would likely aid Poilievre in the crucial August 18 byelection. They intend to run 200 candidates by the July 28 deadline, a new record.

Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley’s campaign called LBC’s ballot crowding “a form of legalized electoral interference” that drowns out genuine voices for change.

“These candidates, … have no true intention of serving Battle River-Crowfoot,” a spokesperson told the National Post.

Critchley, a resident of the riding, sent an open letter in late May asking the LBC not to meddle in the byelection. Her plea was ignored, as 152 LBC-affiliated candidates were on the ballot as of Tuesday morning.

Riding resident and Libertarian candidate Michael Harris accused the protest group of mocking the riding and its residents.

Darcy Spady, the Liberal candidate, refrained from criticizing the LBC. A spokesperson informed the Post that "Every Canadian has the right to put their name on a ballot and run for public office.”