Protest groups that flood election ballots with hundreds of paper candidates in an attempt to confuse voters should not be allowed to hijack democracy. That was Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre’s blunt takeaway after Monday’s byelection—one he won easily, but only after facing down a ridiculous 214-name ballot engineered by activists protesting electoral reform.

“These groups want to confuse people and frustrate democracy, to shut down voices that are speaking common sense,” Poilievre told me Tuesday in an interview for CHEK News (you can check out the full interview here.)

“But you know what? At the end it didn't work, and we're going to change the law to end the long-ballot scam.”

Voters in the Battle River—Crowfoot riding elected Poilievre back to the House of Commons with more than 80 per cent of the vote. But they faced a bewildering number of names, after a group calling itself........

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