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

• 88 (1) Paragraphs 135(1)(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • (a) any field liaison officer;

  • (b) the returning officer, his or her representatives and any member of his or her staff whom he or she authorizes to be present;

  • (b.1) any election officer whom the returning officer authorizes to be present;

• Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 44(1)

  (2) Paragraphs 135(1)(g) and (h) of the Act are replacing by the following:

  • (h) if a polling division of an electoral district in which a registered party’s leader is a candidate is assigned to the polling station, any media representative who — subject to any conditions that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to protect the integ­rity of the vote and the privacy of any person present at the polling station — is authorized in writing by the Chief Electoral Officer to be present and take any photograph or make any audio or video recording of the candidates as they cast their votes; and

  • (i) the auditor referred to in section 164.1.

• Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 44(2)

  (3) Subsections 135(2) to (5) of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Delivery of representative’s authorization

    (2) When a representative of a candidate is admitted to a polling station, the representative shall deliver his or her written authorization from the candidate or the candidate’s official agent in the prescribed form, or a copy of it, to an election officer who is assigned to the polling station.

  • Marginal note:Representative authorized in writing

    (3) A representative bearing a written authorization referred to in subsection (2), or a copy of one, is a representative of the candidate for the purposes of this Act and is entitled to represent the candidate to the exclusion of any elector who might otherwise claim the right to represent the candidate.

  • Marginal note:Solemn declaration

    (4) Each representative of a candidate or each elector described in paragraph (1)(d), on being admitted to the polling station, shall make a solemn declaration in the prescribed form.

  • Marginal note:Solemn declaration

    (5) A candidate’s representative who is appointed to more than one polling station shall, before being admitted to the first polling station, make a solemn declaration in the prescribed form before an election officer who is assigned to that polling station. The representative is not required to make another solemn declaration on being admitted to any other polling station in the same electoral district if he or she presents a document, in the prescribed form, proving that he or she has already made the solemn declaration.

89 Subsection 136(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

• 90 (1) Subsection 138(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Initialling ballots

  • 138 (1) Before a polling station opens on polling day, and in full view of the candidates or their representatives who are present at the polling station, an election officer who is assigned to the polling station shall initial the back of every ballot in the space indicated in Form 3 of Schedule 1, entirely in ink or entirely in black pencil so that when the ballot is folded the initials can be seen. The initials shall be as similar as possible on each ballot.

• (2) Subsections 138(2) and (3) of the French version of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Interdiction de défaire le carnet

    (2) Le fonctionnaire électoral appose son paraphe sans détacher le bulletin de vote du carnet.

  • Marginal note:Cas de manque de temps

    (3) L’apposition du paraphe ne peut avoir pour effet de retarder l’ouverture du scrutin; s’il n’a pas paraphé tous les bulletins de vote à l’heure d’ouverture, le fonctionnaire électoral le fait dans les meilleurs délais, avant de remettre les bulletins aux électeurs.

91 The portion of section 140 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

92 Sections 141 and 142 of the Act are replaced by the following:

Marginal note:2007, c. 21, s. 21

• 93 (1) Subsection 143(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Elector to give name and address

  • 143 (1) Each elector, in order to receive a ballot, shall give his or her name and address to an election officer who is assigned to the polling station, and, on request, to a candidate or a candidate’s representative.

• Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 46(1)

  (2) The portion of subsection 143(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Proof of identity and residence

    (2) If the election officer determines that the elector’s name and address appear on the list of electors or that the elector is allowed to vote under section 146, 147, 148 or 149, then, subject to subsection (3), the elector shall provide the election officer with the following proof of his or her identity and residence:

• Marginal note:2007, c. 21, s. 21

  (3) Paragraph 143(2)(a) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • (a) one piece of identification issued by a Canadian government, whether federal, provincial or local, or an agency of such a government, that contains a photograph of the elector and his or her name and address; or

• Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 46(3)

  (4) Subsection 143(2.1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Authorized types of identification

    (2.1) The Chief Electoral Officer may authorize types of identification for the purposes of paragraph (2)(b). For greater certainty, any document may be authorized, regardless of who issued it.

• Marginal note:2014, c. 12, s. 46(4)

  (5) Subsection 143(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Solemn declaration

    (3) An elector may instead prove his or her identity and residence by making the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(1) in writing if he or she is accompanied by another elector whose name appears on the list of electors for the same polling station and who

    • (a) provides the election officer referred to in subsection (1) with the piece or pieces of identification referred to in paragraph (2)(a) or (b), respectively; and

    • (b) 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

    (3.01) 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 (3), the other elector referred to in that subsection who accompanies him or her may be an employee of the institution who resides — despite that subsection — in any polling division in the elector’s electoral district or an adjacent electoral district.

  • Marginal note:Definition of employee

    (3.02) In subsection (3.01), employee includes an owner of the institution and any person who occupies a management position at the institution.

• Marginal note:2007, c. 37, s. 1

  (6) Subsection 143(3.2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Request to make solemn declaration

    (3.2) Despite subsection (3.1), if the election officer referred to in subsection (1), a candidate or a candidate’s representative has reasonable doubts concerning the residence of an elector referred to in subsection (3.1), the officer, candidate or representative may request that the elector make the solemn declaration referred to in subsection 549.1(1) in writing, in which case the elector’s residence is deemed to have been proven only if he or she makes that solemn declaration.

• Marginal note:2007, c. 21, s. 21; 2014, c. 12, s. 46(6)

  (7) Subsections 143(4) to (6) of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Voting

    (4) If the election officer is satisfied that an elector’s identity and residence have been proven in accordance with subsection (2), (3), (3.1) or (3.2), the elector’s name shall be crossed off the list and, subject to section 144, the elector shall be immediately allowed to vote.