While I am all in favour of removing freedom of speech restrictions (eg the Election gag laws the Liberals have been trying to enact for years), I am completely in favour of banning all polling and reporting on polls during an election. Let the politicians have discussions on policy, let them announce their positions on various issues (without the benefit of "test marketing" them) and then see how voters decide - on election day (you know, the one Poll that actually means something).
And while I am at it. another thing I would like to do away with is Election Night Coverage - this whole "race" aspect where a candidate is "ahead" in a particular riding, or "leading" - I find it all quite annoying. Hows about waiting until the votes are counted and then announcing who the winners are? Isn't that what this whole exercise in democracy is about? Its not a fucking race, its citizens exercising their democratic rights and then having the ballots counted to determine who garnered the most votes and will represent them in Parliament. The whole "race" notion, fuelled by the endless polls and culminating in the horse-race election night coverage, does a disservice to the whole thing.
Ah well...
