Elections Modernization Act (S.C. 2018, c. 31)

• Marginal note:Further limitation

  (4) An assistant returning officer appointed under subsection (2) is not an assistant returning officer for the purposes of subsections 28(1), 60(2), 70(1) and 293(1).

Marginal note:Election officers

• 32 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and 33(2) and (3), a returning officer shall, after the issue of the writ, appoint in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer’s instructions the election officers that the returning officer considers necessary for exercising election officers’ powers and performing election officers’ duties under this Act in the returning officer’s electoral district.

• Marginal note:Appointment before issue of writ

  (2) A returning officer may, in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer’s instructions, appoint election officers before the issue of the writ if the returning officer considers that it is desirable to do so for the purpose of training and preparing them to exercise their powers and perform their duties under this Act after the issue of the writ.

• Marginal note:Maximum number of election officers appointed

  (3) Before the eighth day after the issue of the writ, a returning officer shall not appoint more than half the number of election officers referred to in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Solicitation of names

• 33 (1) As soon as possible after the issue of the writ, a returning officer shall solicit names of persons suitable to be election officers from the candidates of registered parties that endorsed candidates in the last election in the electoral district or from the registered associations of those registered parties — or, if such a registered party has no registered association in that electoral district, from that registered party.

• Marginal note:Persons whose names are provided to be appointed

  (2) If the number of names provided under subsection (1) within seven days after the issue of the writ is less than, or equal to, the number of election officers remaining to be appointed under subsection 32(1) after the returning officer has appointed election officers under section 32, the returning officer shall, subject to subsection 37(1), appoint the persons named as election officers.

• Marginal note:Proportional distribution

  (3) If the number of names provided under subsection (1) within seven days after the issue of the writ is more than the number of election officers remaining to be appointed under subsection 32(1) after the returning officer has appointed election officers under section 32, the returning officer shall, subject to subsection 37(1), appoint from those names the election officers remaining to be appointed as far as possible in the proportion of the votes received in the last election in the electoral district by the candidates of the registered parties whose candidates or registered associations provided names under subsection (1), or that themselves provided names under that subsection, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Removal or replacement

  (4) If a returning officer removes or replaces an election officer, the former election officer shall return all election documents and election materials in his or her possession to the returning officer or to an authorized person.

• Marginal note:Lists of election officers

  (5) Each returning officer shall make available to each candidate, on completion of the list, a list of the election officers for the electoral district who will be responsible for assisting the returning officer or assistant returning officer in the revision of lists of electors under Part 7.

• Marginal note:Identification

  (6) Each election officer shall, while exercising his or her powers or performing his or her duties, wear or carry the identification that is supplied by the Chief Electoral Officer and shall show it on request.

Marginal note:Refusal to appoint

• 37 (1) A returning officer may, on reasonable grounds, refuse to appoint as an election officer a person recommended by a candidate or by a registered association or registered party and shall immediately advise the candidate, association or party of the refusal.

• Marginal note:Recommendation of another person

  (2) If as a result of the refusal a position is not filled and there are no more persons whose names were provided by the candidate, registered association or registered party under subsection 33(1) who may be appointed under subsection 33(2) or (3), the candidate, association or party may recommend another person within 24 hours after being advised of the refusal.

Marginal note:Record of election officers’ powers and duties

38 A returning officer shall keep a record of the powers and duties that he or she has assigned to each election officer, and of the time at which or during which each election officer is to exercise a power or perform a duty assigned to him or her.

Marginal note:Election officers

39 An election officer shall exercise or perform, in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer’s instructions, any power or duty assigned to him or her by a returning officer.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) When the Chief Electoral Officer has determined which candidates, registered associations or registered parties have the right to provide lists of names under subsection (1), he or she shall notify those registered parties without delay of that right.

Marginal note:Attribution of votes for appointments

42 For the purposes of subsection 33(3) and section 41, in a case in which a registered party that endorsed a candidate in the last election merges with one or more parties that were registered parties at the last election,

• (a) the merged party is deemed to have endorsed a candidate in the last election in the electoral district; and

• (b) that candidate is deemed to have received the same number of votes as the candidate who, among the candidates of the merging parties, received the largest number of votes at that election.

• (a) knowingly obstruct an election officer in the exercise of his or her powers or the performance of his or her duties;

• (b) without authority, use identification simulating that used by an election officer or intended to replace that prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer for that purpose; or

• (c) having been removed or replaced as an election officer, fail to return any election documents or election materials in his or her possession to the returning officer or to an authorized person.

Marginal note:Right of access

• 43.1 (1) No person who is in control of an apartment building, condominium building or other multiple-residence building or a gated community shall prevent an election officer or a member of the staff of a returning officer from obtaining access to the building or gated community, as the case may be, between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., to exercise his or her powers or perform his or her duties under this Act.

Register of Electors and Register of Future Electors

Maintenance and Communication

Marginal note:Maintenance of Registers

• 44 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall maintain

  • (a) a register of persons who are qualified as electors, to be known as the Register of Electors; and

  • (b) a register of persons who are qualified as future electors, to be known as the Register of Future Electors.

• Marginal note:Contents of Registers

  (2) The Register of Electors and the Register of Future Electors shall contain, for each elector or future elector who is included in it, as the case may be, his or her surname, given names, gender, date of birth, civic address, mailing address and any other information that is provided under subsections 49(2), 211.2(4), 223(2), 233(2) and 251(3).

• Marginal note:Identifier

  (3) The Register of Electors and the Register of Future Electors shall also contain, for each elector or future elector, as the case may be, a unique, randomly generated identifier that is assigned by the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Future electors becoming electors

  (4) Subject to subsection (5), the Register of Future Electors may continue to contain information about a former future elector after he or she becomes an elector until he or she is included in the Register of Electors.

• Marginal note:Inclusion optional

  (5) Inclusion in the Register of Electors and the Register of Future Electors is optional.

• Marginal note:Parental consent not necessary

  (6) A future elector’s inclusion in the Register of Future Electors does not require the consent of the future elector’s parents or guardian or tutor.

Marginal note:Lists to members and registered parties

• 45 (1) By November 15 in each year, the Chief Electoral Officer shall make available to the member for each electoral district and, on request, to each registered party that endorsed a candidate in the electoral district in the last election, a copy — taken from the Register of Electors — in electronic form, or in formats that include electronic form, of the lists of electors for the electoral district.

Updates

Marginal note:Information from Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

46.01 Despite subparagraph 46(1)(a)(ii), for the purpose of assisting the Chief Electoral Officer in updating the Register of Electors, including by deleting the name of a person who is not an elector, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration may, at the request of the Chief Electoral Officer in writing, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with any of the following information, in relation to a person, that is contained in databases maintained by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration that relate to permanent residents and foreign nationals as those terms are defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and with the date when the information referred to in paragraph (d) was included or updated in those databases:

• (a) his or her surname and given names;

• (b) his or her gender;

• (c) his or her date of birth;

• (d) his or her addresses; and

• (e) any unique identifier that that Minister has assigned to him or her under that Act.

Marginal note:Citizenship information

46.1 For the purpose of assisting the Chief Electoral Officer in updating the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, the Minister of National Revenue may, on a return of income referred to in subsection 150(1) of the Income Tax Act, request that an individual who is filing a return of income under paragraph 150(1)(d) of that Act indicate in the return whether he or she is a Canadian citizen.

Marginal note:Information in respect of deceased individuals

46.2 For the purpose of updating the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, the Minister of National Revenue shall, at the request of the Chief Electoral Officer, provide the name, date of birth and address of any individual to whom paragraph 150(1)(b) of the Income Tax Act applies if that individual has, in his or her last return of income filed under paragraph 150(1)(d) of that Act, authorized that Minister to provide his or her name, date of birth and address to the Chief Electoral Officer for the relevant register.

Marginal note:Other duties

47.1 Between election periods, a returning officer shall perform any duties related to the updating of the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors that are requested by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Marginal note:Adding electors and future electors

• 48 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, before including an elector in the Register of Electors or a future elector in the Register of Future Electors, send him or her the Chief Electoral Officer’s information relating to him or her and ask if he or she wishes to be included in the relevant register.

• Marginal note:Obligation of elector or future elector

  (2) An elector or future elector who wishes to be included in the relevant register shall confirm, correct or complete the information, in writing, and give it to the Chief Electoral Officer along with a signed certification that he or she is qualified as an elector or as a future elector, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) This section does not apply in respect of the inclusion of an elector or future elector that is

  • (a) done at his or her request;

  • (b) done using information from lists of electors or future electors established under provincial law that contain information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers sufficient for the elector’s or future elector’s inclusion; or

  • (c) done using information to update the Register of Electors under subsection 46(1.01).

Marginal note:Listing requests

• 49 (1) Any person may at any time request the Chief Electoral Officer to include him or her in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, by providing

  • (a) a signed certification that he or she is qualified as an elector or as a future elector, as the case may be;

  • (b) his or her surname, given names, gender, date of birth, civic address and mailing address; and

  • (c) satisfactory proof of identity.

• Marginal note:Optional information

  (2) In addition to the information referred to in subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer may invite the elector or future elector to give any other information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to implement any agreements entered into under section 55, but the elector or future elector is not required to do so.

Marginal note:Corrections

50 An elector or future elector may inform the Chief Electoral Officer of changes to the information in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, as the case may be, relating to him or her, and the Chief Electoral Officer shall make the necessary corrections to the relevant register.

Marginal note:Verification

51 The Chief Electoral Officer may

• (a) contact an elector or future elector to verify the Chief Electoral Officer’s information relating to him or her; and

• (b) request the elector or future elector to confirm, correct or complete the information within 60 days after receiving the request.