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

Special Voting Procedures

Marginal note:Assistance by election officer

• 154 (1) On request by an elector who is unable to read or because of a disability is unable to vote in the manner described by this Act, an election officer who is assigned to the polling station shall assist the elector in the presence of another election officer who is assigned to the polling station.

• Marginal note:Template

  (2) An election officer who is assigned to the polling station shall, on request, provide a template to an elector who has a visual impairment to assist him or her in marking his or her ballot.

Marginal note:Assistance by friend or related person

• 155 (1) If an elector requires assistance to vote, one of the following persons may accompany the elector into the voting compartment and assist the elector to mark his or her ballot:

  • (a) a friend of the elector;

  • (b) the elector’s spouse or common-law partner; or

  • (c) a relative of the elector or of the elector’s spouse or common-law partner.

• (2) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 101]

• Marginal note:Solemn declaration

  (3) A person described in subsection (1) who wishes to assist an elector in marking a ballot shall first make a solemn declaration, in the prescribed form, that he or she

  • (a) will mark the ballot paper in the manner directed by the elector;

  • (b) will not disclose the name of the candidate for whom the elector voted;

  • (c) will not try to influence the elector in choosing a candidate; and

  • (d) has not, during the current election, assisted another person, as a friend, to mark a ballot.

• (4) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 101]

Marginal note:Use of interpreter

156 An election officer who is assigned to a polling station may appoint a language or sign language interpreter to assist election officers at the polling station in communicating to an elector any information that is necessary to enable him or her to vote.

Marginal note:Elector who is confined to bed

• 157 (1) At a polling station that has been established in an institution for seniors or persons with a disability, when an election officer who is assigned to the polling station considers it necessary, the election officer shall

  • (a) suspend temporarily the voting in the polling station; and

  • (b) with the approval of the person in charge of the institution, carry the ballot box, ballots and other necessary election documents from room to room in the institution to take the votes of electors who are confined to bed and ordinarily resident in the polling division in which the institution is situated.

• Marginal note:Procedure for taking the votes

  (2) When the vote of an elector who is confined to bed is taken, an election officer assigned to the polling station shall give the elector the assistance necessary to enable the elector to vote, and not more than one representative of each candidate may be present.

Transfer Certificates

Marginal note:Transfer certificate for candidate

• 158 (1) A candidate whose name appears on the list of electors for a polling station is entitled on request to receive a transfer certificate to vote at another polling station in the same electoral district.

• Marginal note:Transfer certificate for election officer

  (2) An election officer who is assigned to a polling station shall issue a transfer certificate to any person — other than himself or herself — whose name appears on the official list of electors for the polling station and who has been appointed to act as an election officer for another polling station in the same electoral district.

• Marginal note:Condition

  (3) A transfer certificate issued under subsection (2) authorizes the person to vote at the polling station named in it only if, on polling day, the person exercises the power or performs the duty specified in the certificate at the place mentioned in the certificate.

• Marginal note:Transfer certificate for elector whose polling station has moved

  (4) If an elector’s polling station moves to another location after the notice of confirmation of registration has been sent, an elector who attends at the polling station set out in the notice is entitled on request to receive a transfer certificate to vote at that polling station.

Marginal note:Transfer certificate for elector with disability

• 159 (1) An elector who has a disability and is therefore unable to vote without difficulty in his or her polling station may apply for a transfer certificate to vote at another polling station in the same electoral district.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) The application shall be made in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer’s instructions.

• Marginal note:Issue of transfer certificate to elector with disability

  (3) An election officer shall issue a transfer certificate in the prescribed form, and provide the certificate to the person who submitted the application to the officer, if the officer is satisfied that the elector’s name appears on a list of electors for the electoral district.

Marginal note:Signing, numbering and recording transfer certificate

160 The election officer who issues a transfer certificate shall

• (a) fill in and sign the certificate and mention on it the date of its issue;

• (b) consecutively number the certificate in the order of its issue;

• (c) keep a record of the certificate in the order of its issue on the prescribed form;

• (d) not issue the certificate in blank; and

• (e) if possible, send a copy of the certificate to an election officer who is assigned to the polling station on whose list of electors appears the name of the person to whom the certificate has been issued.

Polling Day Registration

Marginal note:Registration in person

• 161 (1) An elector whose name is not on the list of electors may register in person on polling day before an election officer if the elector

  • (a) provides as proof of his or her identity and residence the piece or pieces of identification referred to in paragraph 143(2)(a) or (b), respectively, the piece or one of those pieces containing an address that proves his or her residence; or

  • (b) proves his or her identity and residence by making the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(1) in writing and is accompanied by another elector whose name appears on the list of electors for the same polling station and who

    • (i) provides the piece or pieces of identification referred to in paragraph 143(2)(a) or (b), respectively, the piece or one of those pieces containing either an address that proves that other elector’s residence or an address that is consistent with information related to that other elector that appears on the list of electors, and

    • (ii) vouches for the elector by making the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(2) in writing.

• Marginal note:Vouching for electors in long-term care institution

  (2) If an elector who resides in an institution for seniors or persons with a disability wishes to prove his or her identity and residence under subsection (1), the other elector referred to in paragraph (1)(b) who accompanies him or her may be an employee of the institution who resides — despite that paragraph — in any polling division in the elector’s electoral district or an adjacent electoral district.

• Marginal note:Definition of employee

  (2.1) In subsection (2), employee includes an owner of the institution and any person who occupies a management position at the institution.

• Marginal note:Representative of each candidate

  (3) The election officer shall permit each candidate, or one representative of each candidate, in the electoral district to be present when an elector is being registered.

• Marginal note:Examination of identification documents

  (3.1) The representative of a candidate may examine but not handle any piece of identification provided by the elector.

• Marginal note:Registration certificate

  (4) If the elector satisfies the requirements of subsection (1), the election officer shall complete a registration certificate in the prescribed form authorizing the elector to vote and the elector shall sign it. The registration certificate shall include a solemn declaration made by the elector that he or she is qualified as an elector under section 3.

• Marginal note:List deemed to be modified

  (5) When a registration certificate is given under subsection (4), the list of electors is deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been modified in accordance with the certificate.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — registration on polling day

  (5.1) It is prohibited for any person to

  • (a) knowingly apply to be registered on polling day in a name that is not their own;

  • (b) knowingly apply, except as authorized by this Act, to be registered on polling day to vote in a polling division in which they are not ordinarily resident;

  • (c) apply to be registered on polling day to vote in an electoral district knowing that they are not qualified as an elector or entitled to vote in the electoral district; or

  • (d) compel, induce or attempt to compel or induce any other person to make a false or misleading statement relating to that other person’s qualification as an elector for the purposes of the registration of that other person on polling day.

• (6) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 107]

• (7) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 107]

Marginal note:Requirement before making solemn declaration — elector

• 161.1 (1) If a person decides to prove his or her identity and residence by making the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(1) in writing, an election officer shall, before the person makes the solemn declaration, advise him or her in writing of the qualifications for electors and the penalty that may be imposed under this Act on a person who contravenes subsection 161(5.1) or 549(3).

• Marginal note:Requirement before making solemn declaration — vouching for elector

  (2) If a person decides to vouch for an elector by making the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(2) in writing, an election officer shall, before the person makes the solemn declaration, advise him or her in writing of the penalty that may be imposed under this Act on a person who contravenes any of subsections 282.1(1) to (3) or 549(3).

Duties of Election Officers Assigned to Polling Station

Marginal note:Duties

162 An election officer assigned to a polling station — and not necessarily the same election officer for all of the following — shall

• (a) make, on the prescribed form, the entries required under this Act;

• (b) as soon as the elector’s ballot has been deposited in the ballot box, indicate, beside the name of the elector on the list of electors, that the elector has voted;

• (c) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that the elector has voted under a transfer certificate issued under section 158 or 159 and give the number of the certificate;

• (d) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 110]

• (e) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that the elector has voted under section 146;

• (f) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that the elector has made a solemn declaration and the type of solemn declaration;

• (g) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that the elector refused to comply with a legal requirement to provide the piece or pieces of identification referred to in paragraph 143(2)(a) or (b), respectively, or to make a solemn declaration;

• (h) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that the elector has been allowed to vote under subsection 148.1(2);

• (i) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form that an elector has voted in the circumstances described in section 147, that the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(1) has been made or that any other solemn declaration that was required to be made was made, note any objection that was made on behalf of any of the candidates and indicate the candidate’s name;

• (i.1) prepare, at intervals of no less than 30 minutes, using the prescribed form and as directed by the Chief Electoral Officer, a document permitting the identification of every elector who during that interval has exercised his or her right to vote on polling day — excluding electors who registered on that day — and, on request, provide it to a candidate’s representative;

• (i.2) prepare, each day after the close of the advance polling station, using the prescribed form and as directed by the Chief Electoral Officer, a document permitting the identification of every elector who has exercised his or her right to vote on that day — excluding electors who registered on that day — and, on request, provide it to a candidate’s representative; and

• (j) indicate, if applicable, on the prescribed form, that an elector has voted under a registration certificate issued under subsection 161(4).

Secrecy

Marginal note:Secret vote

163 The vote is secret.

Marginal note:Procedure in case of contravention of secrecy

• 164 (1) It is the duty of the election officers who are present at the polling station to draw the attention of any elector to an offence that the elector commits in contravening any of paragraphs 281.6(3)(a) to (c) and to the punishment to which the elector is liable, but the elector shall be allowed to vote in the usual way if he or she has not already done so.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (2) For greater certainty, if one election officer performs his or her duty under subsection (1) with regard to an elector, no other election officer need do so with regard to that elector.