Is Elections Canada doing anything about alleged dirty election tricks?

On election day, many people in southern Ontario reported receiving telephone calls, purportedly from Elections Canada, telling them their polling locations had moved.

"This is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout your poll location has been changed," says one message retrieved by CBC from a resident's voice mail system in Guelph.

"Your new voting location is at the old Quebec Street mall at 55 Wyndham Street North."

Elections Canada said the phone calls were a hoax and polling locations had not been moved.

Many frustrated voters, who were left scrambling on election day, have submitted formal complaints to Elections Canada but that federal agency won't say if it's being investigated.

"It's our organization's policy that we not confirm or deny whether we are investigating any matters," spokeswoman Dianne Benson told Yahoo! Canada News.

"All complaints are reviewed through the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections. I think in 2008, the office received more than 600 complaints."

If the commissioner believes, on reasonable grounds, that an offence under the Act has been committed, the matter will be sent to the director of public prosecutions, who then makes a decision on whether to proceed with charges.

By law, Elections Canada must issue a report within 90 days of the May 2 election chronicling all of the complaints and abuses reported during the course of the campaign.

Professor Ronald Shaiko of Dartmouth College has studied the history of dirty-trick politics in the United States. He told CBC's The Current these types of activities are often the work of third-party organizations affiliated or sympathetic to a certain political party.

"If one party in Canada thinks it benefits by having a turnout that's eight points lower than the national average, they're going to do something about that," he said, suggesting an individual or individuals were targeting an opponent's supporters to suppress their vote.

To date, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing in relation to the election day calls and no charges have been laid.

(CBC Photo)