Election day is just around the corner in Canada, and the 2011 campaign has been filled with unusual twists, turns and surprises. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises is how much technology has played a part in it, perhaps more than ever before.

Whether the issue is how citizens are using (or are going to be using) social media, how candidates are embracing it to capture the younger voters or to seem tech-savvy to the voters, social media has played an important role in shaping the election campaign this time around. It may not be a predictor in terms of what party is going to come out on top on May 2, but it has proven to be an effective and efficient medium in which people can get the message out to others — whether they are the ones running for office or not.

Communication shakedown

Facebook and Twitter have become even more mainstream since the last time Canadians went to the polls in 2008, so much so that Elections Canada is poised to take measures if election results are transmitted before the polls close out West. How it plans to do that is yet to be seen, but there are those who think there’s no way it can be done, such as Eric Grenier of political website ThreeHundredEight.com.

“This will be unenforceable by Elections Canada, and if they intend to fine everyone on Twitter who breaks the rules they will have a good financial year,” Grenier said.

That said, it is possible for those who want to track any election results on Twitter are going to have an easier time of it (perhaps even Elections Canada) thanks to the site Tweettheresults.ca, a site created by prominent Vancouver social media experts Alexandra Samuel and Darren Barefoot. The site follows the hashtag “#tweettheresults” as a manner of demonstrating how many of those users are going to ignore the law and tweet election results regardless of what the law states.

“Whether or not you think this is a good law is not the point,” Samuel argues. “It’s not a feasible law, it’s not a technically viable law anymore.” Barefoot thinks that all of this could be avoided if results were withheld across the board until the polls close out West, but neither solution would be popular with the media.

A more reasonable solution would be to close polls across the country at the same time in future federal elections, and with advance voting up over 30 per cent versus the 2008 election, it is something worth exploring. Another suggestion is to make federal election day a roving national holiday. This could also address one of the needs that Marc Mayrand, Canada’s chief electoral officer, mentioned in his report following the last campaign: the need to make voting more accessible to Canadians.

“Elections Canada’s mission includes ensuring that Canadians can exercise their democratic right to vote. During the 40th general election Canadians had more opportunities to vote in various ways, in more accessible venues and more locations than ever before. Even so, more than 40 percent of electors chose not to vote.

A variety of organizations are involved with promoting a more active civil society. Many express the view that electoral participation is a key indicator of the vitality of the democratic process and are concerned about decreased levels of participation.

A debate exists as to whether this means that electors need to be engaged in different ways. To date, the emphasis has been on bringing the elector to the ballot box, through communications and information campaigns. Given Canadians’ changing expectations and attitudes to technology and service, it may be time to consider ways of making voting more accessible and relevant to the evolving expectations of electors in general, and especially younger voters.”

Longer polling hours or more advance voting days would help with voter turnout, but also could have a huge impact on what happens on the social media landscape more than these other suggestions. Social media isn’t something that can be stopped (or perhaps curbed), and simply lengthening the polling hours or adding more days that voters have to vote could sway voting depending on where the messages seem to lead.

Ultimately, the laws need to recognize that real-time media is here to stay and that trying to stop it is an exercise in futility.

Communication breakdown

It’s clear that social media has been an easy and effective way for candidates to interact with people online, as well lead them to offline interaction. Savvy candidates that understand how social media works are able to spread their message much further than those who either don’t understand the merits of the medium or simply don’t care to take advantage of it. And the Internet has proven to be a surefire way to get voters talking about the upcoming election, especially in social media circles.