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Rob Ford's campaign visit to polling station more of that 'outlaw' behaviour supporters love

Ailing Rob Ford casts early mayoral ballot for brother

If you voted in the Toronto municipal election’s advanced polls late last week or over the weekend, there’s a chance you spotted Rob Ford at your polling station.

While it may be an election first to see a candidate so willfully skirting the rules, which bans all campaigning at polling stations, previous behaviour suggests we could have seen it coming. And whether you were offended or impressed by the mayor’s temerity likely depends largely your previous impression of him.

Ford appeared a reported three times at polling stations across the city between Thursday and Saturday, and that doesn’t include going to an advanced polling station to cast his actual vote – the only legitimate reason a candidate, or a brother of a mayoral candidate, would have for hanging out at a polling station.

Everything else would contravene city rules and could be considered an attempt “to directly or indirectly influence how a person votes.”

That quote comes directly from Section 48(1) of the Municipal Elections Act, which was cited to Ford by city clerk Ulli Watkiss over the weekend after he had to be removed by polling officials from the first two stations. Later the same day, he did it for a third time.

The National Post reports that Ford was spotting at a polling station in Ward 17 that day and was again asked to leave.

City spokesperson Jackie DeSousa told the newspaper Ford was asked to leave the polling station because only “election staff and scrutineers are permitted at the voting location.”

What Ford did was a direct and transparent affront to city regulations, election law and common sense.

But while some say Ford should have received more than just a warning for willfully thumbing his nose at election regulations, his ardent supporters won’t bat an eye. Both Rob and Doug Ford have a history of walking the line when it comes to election rules.

Let’s do a quick roll call:

In 2012, Rob Ford was forced to apologize after using his city hall phone number as a “campaign hotline,” when asked like-minded listeners to his radio program to contact him so he could run a slate of candidates against left-leaning councillors.

In June, Ford apologized again for running a robocall campaign against Paul Ainslie which inaccurately claimed the councillor had voted against Ford’s subway plan without input from his constituents.

An audit released last year found that Rob Ford’s 2010 campaign had exceeded the legal spending limit by some $40,000 among other issues, including taking an inappropriate loan from a company called Doug Ford Holdings.

Some portions of Rob Ford’s first 2014 election commercial were shot inside his office at city hall – where campaigning cannot legally take place. It resulted in a complaint to the city’s integrity commissioner.

A Freedom of Information request by former mayoral candidate David Soknacki corroborated accusations that Rob Ford ran his now-abandoned 2014 mayoral campaign out of the mayor’s office, using city resources and staff members for private use.

Rob Ford’s history of papering cars and constituents with “Rob Ford Mayor” fridge magnets considered unofficial campaigning even before the campaign officially began.

The Ford family’s frequent “Ford Fest" barbecues has always walked the thin line between campaigning and standard self-promotion, but Rob Ford was warned not to overstep himself when he held his part of city grounds earlier in the campaign.

And last December, Doug Ford was accused of buying votes when he went to a public housing building and handed out a stack of $20 bills. At the time he said he had no intention of running for re-election, and that he could do whatever he wanted with his money.

At this point, it is an exercise in futility to act surprised that Rob Ford would campaign inside a polling station. They are considered electoral neutral zones, and need to remain that way for the democratic process to have a chance at working.

Ford claimed he was dropping a resident off to vote, which may be fine. But it doesn’t explain why he would feel compelled to walk around, shaking hands and taking picture, inside the polling station. Or why he would need to be reminded of its impropriety three times, and with an official letter.

It would also be an exercise in futility, however, to make the argument that Ford’s antics will hurt the election chances of either himself or his brother – both of whom Toronto voters have come to see as outlaw rebels.

Market research agency Dig Insights recently compiled a study on Toronto mayoral archetypes, determining what characteristics likely voters most associate with the candidates.

The investigation into brand characteristics and positioning reveals some rather interesting results. While opponents Olivia Chow and John Tory were most associated largely positive attributes like Sage (Tory) and Caregiver (Chow), Rob and Doug Ford were associated with the more ambiguous characteristics of Hero/Warrior and Outlaw.

The online survey asked likely Toronto voters to attribute various descriptions to each candidate, which were calculated down to 12 key archetypes, including Everyman, Ruler, Creator and Jester.

No archetype is considered better or worse, but rather it is more integral that a brand, or in this case a politician, have a clear message. The study found that Doug Ford had the clearest message, while Chow’s message was less obvious - with more traits attributed to her, but none in overwhelming numbers.

"It is not about one archetype being good and another being bad, rather it is important to be clear about what you are communicating," Dig Insight’s Michael Edwards told Yahoo Canada News on Monday. "Doug Ford, love him or hate him, he has a clear message. He stands for the hero, which is competitiveness, aggression, desire to win and conquer."

The Hero/Warrior trait can be considered either positive or negative, either meaning the candidate is focused on achievement, or determined to win at any cost. The Outlaw trait, similarly, can be considered rebellious or destructive.

Doug Ford was linked to Hero/Warrior as his primary trait and Outlaw as his secondary trait, while Rob Ford was found to be Outlaw first and Hero/Warrior second.

"Someone might be looking for an outlaw, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing," Dig Insight’s Marcie Connan added. "What it does speak to is that they expect a revolution, or are looking for someone who might challenge the status quo and change things up."

In other words, Torontonians associate the Fords with heroic, combative and outlaw behaviour, meaning perhaps they are not likely to be surprised or rattled when one of them challenges bylaws or regulations – those vestiges of a broken system.

It could also mean that Rob Ford can be ordered to stop campaigning inside a polling station three times, receive an official warning from the city, and face no actual repercussions.

It is nice to know the dignity of our democratic system can be so… malleable.