Cahaya’s Rants

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Muslim women in niqabs or burqas will no longer be allowed to stay veiled when voting in Canada, under government legislation introduced on Friday. The bill seeks to force the hand of Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, who rebuffed a request by a parliamentary committee that he require the lifting of veils to prove voters’ identities. He had insisted the existing law did not require this.The new legislation would allow an exception only for someone whose face is bandaged after surgery or covered for other medical reasons.

The issue has become a hot potato especially in the province of Quebec, which is debating how far to accommodate minorities, and where the provincial electoral officer reversed course last March and required the unveiling of voters.

If everybody else has to show his or her face to prove his or her identity, why should some people be exempted? If these burqa clad women object to males seeing their faces, then find a female voting worker verify if they are who they claimed themselves to be on voting day.