Voting in veils still OK in Canada despite protests

OTTAWA, Sep 10 (Reuters) Canada's top election official today stuck to his controversial ruling allowing Muslim women to stay veiled when voting, despite protests from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, other leaders and individuals.

Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand insisted he was only standing by a new law requiring voters to identify themselves, but not specifically requiring that they show their faces.

''It's not up to me to amend the law,'' he told a news conference. ''I invite Parliament to review, and if it wishes to do so amend, the provisions governing the conduct of the vote in light of the many comments voiced by politicians and the public.'' Multicultural Canada has increasingly grappled with the question of when to make special provisions for minorities. An official commission begins today to look into ''reasonable accommodation'' in the province of Quebec.

Mayrand said he had told the main federal parties in July that he would allow veiled women to stay veiled, but politicians had only protested over the past week, following coverage in the media and complaints by citizens.

Harper said yesterday in Australia, before Mayrand's news conference, that the ruling on veils went against the wishes of Parliament, which formally adopted the act in June.

''I hope they will reconsider this decision. But in the mean time, if that doesn't happen, Parliament will have to consider what actions it's going to take to make sure that its intentions are put into place,'' Harper said.

The three opposition parties supported Harper's stance.

Indeed, Bloc Quebecois announced before Mayrand's remarks that it would introduce a bill to make it clear that those voting in person must unveil.

Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party, said the legislation hadn't specifically made provisions for head coverings because no Muslim groups had asked for it.

''It's primarily because no groups came forward requesting special treatment,'' Layton told Reuters.

Mayrand said voters who didn't want to reveal their faces would have to take an oath affirming they are who they say they are. He said 80,000 people had voted by mail in the 2006 election, without being seen, and any Canadian could show up with two pieces of identification without photos.

''The prime minister has indicated that he feels I may have misinterpreted the act,'' Mayrand said, adding that the wording ''clearly points out there is not an absolute visual recognition of the elector required by the act.'' As the law stands, Muslim women should be allowed to keep niqabs or burqas on because in a democracy, anything that is not banned is permitted, he said.

Asked if voters could show up with paper bags over their heads, also not mentioned in the act, Mayrand said no.

''There is a point where it touches on the orderly process of the voting,'' he said.

The new federal law is being tested in the run up to elections next Monday to fill three Quebec vacancies in the federal Parliament.

REUTERS TB RN0119