Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

Marginal note:Setting aside of inner envelope

• 277 (1) An election officer referred to in section 273 shall set aside an elector’s inner envelope unopened if

  • (a) the information concerning the elector, as set out in the elector’s declaration made under paragraph 227(2)(c), does not correspond with the information on the application for registration and special ballot;

  • (b) the declaration — other than one in respect of an elector who has voted with assistance under section 243 or 243.1 — does not bear the elector’s signature;

  • (c) the elector has voted more than once; or

  • (d) the outer envelope was received after the prescribed deadline.

• Marginal note:Registering objections

  (2) When the declarations are verified, an election officer referred to in section 273 shall register any objection to an elector’s right to vote in the electoral district in the prescribed form.

• Marginal note:Noting of reasons for setting aside

  (3) When an elector’s inner envelope is set aside unopened as described in subsection (1), the election officer who set it aside shall note on it the reasons for the setting aside. The election officer and another election officer referred to in section 273 shall both initial the envelope.

• Marginal note:Envelopes and declarations kept together

  (4) When an elector’s inner envelope is set aside unopened as described in this section, it shall be kept with the outer envelope and — if it did not appear on the outer envelope — the declaration.

Marginal note:Counting of inner envelopes

• 278 (1) The election officers referred to in section 273 shall count all inner envelopes that have not been set aside.

• Marginal note:Inner envelopes

  (2) They shall put all the inner envelopes that have not been set aside in a ballot box provided by the returning officer.

• Marginal note:Counting the votes

  (3) After the close of the polling stations, one of the election officers shall open the ballot box and, together with another of the election officers, shall open the inner envelopes and count the votes.

Marginal note:Rejection of ballots

• 279 (1) An election officer shall, in counting the ballots, reject a ballot if

  • (a) it has not been supplied for the election;

  • (b) it is not marked;

  • (c) it is marked with a name other than the name of a candidate;

  • (d) it is marked for more than one candidate; or

  • (e) there is any writing or mark on it by which the elector could be identified.

• Marginal note:Elector’s intent

  (2) An election officer shall not reject a special ballot for the sole reason that the elector has incorrectly written the name of a candidate, if the ballot clearly indicates the elector’s intent.

• Marginal note:Political affiliation

  (3) An election officer shall not reject a special ballot for the sole reason that the elector has written, in addition to the name of a candidate, the candidate’s political affiliation, if the ballot clearly indicates the elector’s intent.

DIVISION 8Communication of the Results of the Vote

Marginal note:Communication of results

• 280 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, without delay after the closing of the polling stations at an election, inform each returning officer of the results of the count under Division 6 for the returning officer’s electoral district, giving the number of votes cast for each candidate and the number of rejected ballots.

• Marginal note:Release of information

  (2) When the returning officer receives information from the Chief Electoral Officer respecting the results of the count under Division 6, the returning officer shall add those results to the results of the count under Division 7 and release all of them as being the results of the vote under the Special Voting Rules.

PART 11.1Prohibitions in Relation to Voting

Marginal note:Application

281 The provisions of this Part apply inside and outside Canada.

Marginal note:Chief Electoral Officer

281.1 The Chief Electoral Officer shall not vote at an election.

Marginal note:Inducing Chief Electoral Officer to vote

281.2 No person shall induce or attempt to induce the Chief Electoral Officer to vote at an election knowing that it is the Chief Electoral Officer whom he or she is inducing or attempting to induce to vote and that the Chief Electoral Officer is prohibited from voting.

Marginal note:Not qualified as elector

281.3 No person shall

• (a) vote or attempt to vote at an election knowing that he or she

  • (i) is not a Canadian citizen when he or she votes, or

  • (ii) is not 18 years of age or older — or will not be 18 years of age or older — on polling day; or

• (b) induce or attempt to induce another person to vote at an election knowing that the other person

  • (i) is not a Canadian citizen — or will not be a Canadian citizen — when he or she votes, or

  • (ii) is not 18 years of age or older — or will not be 18 years of age or older — on polling day.

Marginal note:Not ordinarily resident in electoral district

281.4 No person shall

• (a) vote or attempt to vote at an election in a particular electoral district knowing that his or her place of ordinary residence is not in that electoral district; or

• (b) induce or attempt to induce another person to vote at an election in a particular electoral district knowing that the other person’s place of ordinary residence is not in that electoral district.

Marginal note:Voting more than once — general election

• 281.5 (1) No person who has voted in a general election shall vote again, or attempt to vote again, in that general election.

• Marginal note:Voting more than once — by-election

  (2) No person who has voted in a by-election shall vote again, or attempt to vote again, at that by-election or at any other by-election that is held on the same day.

Marginal note:Secrecy of the vote

• 281.6 (1) Every person present at a polling station or at the counting of the votes shall maintain the secrecy of the vote.

• Marginal note:Attempting to obtain information about elector’s vote

  (2) Except as provided by this Act, no person shall, in a polling station, attempt to obtain any information as to the candidate for whom any elector is about to vote or has voted.

• Marginal note:Secrecy at the poll

  (3) Except as provided by this Act, no person shall

  • (a) on entering the polling station and before receiving a ballot or special ballot, openly declare for whom he or she intends to vote;

  • (b) while in the polling station, show his or her ballot or special ballot, when marked, so as to allow the name of the candidate for whom he or she has voted to be seen; or

  • (c) before leaving the polling station, openly declare for whom he or she has voted.

• Marginal note:Secrecy — marked ballot

  (4) No person who has seen a ballot or special ballot that has been marked by an elector shall disclose information as to how it was marked unless he or she is the elector who marked it or he or she has been authorized to make the disclosure by the elector who marked it.

• Marginal note:Secrecy — counting of the votes

  (5) No person shall, at the counting of the votes, attempt to obtain information or communicate information obtained at the counting as to the candidate for whom a vote is given in a particular ballot or special ballot.

Marginal note:Ballots

• 281.7 (1) No person shall

  • (a) request or apply for a ballot or special ballot in a name that is not his or her own;

  • (b) vote using a forged ballot or forged special ballot;

  • (c) request or apply for a ballot or special ballot to which he or she is not entitled;

  • (d) provide a ballot or special ballot to any person when not authorized under this Act to do so;

  • (e) have a ballot or special ballot in his or her possession when not authorized under this Act to do so;

  • (f) alter, deface or destroy a ballot, the initials of the election officer that are signed on a ballot or the number of the polling division or advance polling district that is marked on a ballot;

  • (g) put or cause to be put into a ballot box a ballot, special ballot or other paper otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer;

  • (h) take a ballot out of the polling station or the office of the returning officer otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer; or

  • (i) destroy, take, open or otherwise interfere with a ballot box or book or packet of ballots or special ballots otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Ballots — election officer

  (2) No election officer shall

  • (a) with the intent of causing the reception of a vote that should not have been cast or the non-reception of a vote that should have been cast, put his or her initials on the back of any paper purporting to be or capable of being used as a ballot at an election; or

  • (b) place on a ballot or special ballot any writing, number or mark with intent that the elector to whom the ballot or special ballot is to be given, or has been given, can be identified.

• Marginal note:Special ballots — unit election officer

  (3) No unit election officer shall place on a special ballot any writing, number or mark with intent that the elector to whom the special ballot is to be given, or has been given, can be identified.

Marginal note:Photograph, video or copy of marked ballot

• 281.8 (1) No person shall

  • (a) take a photograph or make a video recording of a ballot or special ballot that has been marked, at an election, by an elector;

  • (b) make a copy, in any manner, of any ballot or special ballot that has been marked, at an election, by an elector; or

  • (c) distribute or show, in any manner, to one or more persons, a photograph, video recording or copy of a ballot or special ballot that has been marked, at an election, by an elector.

• Marginal note:Exception — persons with visual impairment

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any person with a visual impairment who takes a photograph or makes a video recording or copy of a ballot or special ballot that he or she has marked for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of their marking.

• Marginal note:Exception — legal proceedings

  (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who does anything referred to in that subsection for the purpose of a recount under Part 14 or for the purpose of any other legal proceeding.

Marginal note:False statement

281.9 No person shall

• (a) make a false statement in an application for registration and special ballot; or

• (b) make a false statement in a declaration signed by him or her before an election officer or unit election officer.

Marginal note:Person who assists elector — limit

• 282 (1) At an election, no person shall, as a friend, assist under section 155 or 243.01, more than one elector for the purpose of marking a ballot.

• Marginal note:Person who assists elector — secrecy

  (2) No person who assists an elector under section 155 or 243.01 shall, directly or indirectly, disclose the name of the candidate for whom the elector voted or that candidate’s political affiliation.

Marginal note:Vouching for more than one person

• 282.1 (1) No person shall vouch for more than one person at an election, except in the cases referred to in subsections 143(3.01), 161(2) and 169(2.01).

• Marginal note:Voucher not qualified as elector, etc.

  (2) No person shall vouch for another person if

  • (a) the person who vouches is not qualified as an elector;

  • (b) the person who vouches does not personally know the other person; or

  • (c) the person who vouches does not reside in a polling division assigned to the same polling station as the polling division in which the other person resides or, in the cases referred to in subsections 143(3.01), 161(2) and 169(2.01), in a polling division in the other person’s electoral district or an adjacent electoral district.

• Marginal note:Vouchee acting as voucher

  (3) No person who has been vouched for at an election shall vouch for another person at that election.