Supreme Court of Canada Upholds Election Blackout Law

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld s 329 of the Canada Elections Act in R v Bryan 2007 SCC 12 (15 March 2007) by a 5:4 majority and over spirited dissent. Section 329 effectively prohibits publication (in this case, on a website) of election results from eastern provinces until the polls close in the west. According to the majority judgment, "Section 329, by virtue of its objective of ensuring informational equality among voters, is a reasonable limit on s. 2(b) of the Charter." According to the minority, "As an excessive response to an insufficiently proven harm in light of the implementation of staggered voting hours, the publication ban in s. 329 of the Canada Elections Act is therefore a violation of s. 2(b) of the Charter that is not justified under s. 1."