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

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.

Marginal note:Influencing electors

282.2 No person shall, in a polling station or in any place where voting at an election is taking place, influence or attempt to influence electors to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election.

Marginal note:Influencing electors — election officers and staff of returning officers

282.3 Subject to section 141, no election officer, unit election officer or member of the staff of a returning officer shall, while exercising their powers or performing their duties, influence or attempt to influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election.

Marginal note:Undue influence by foreigners

• 282.4 (1) No person or entity referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e) shall, during an election period, unduly influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election:

  • (a) an individual who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and who does not reside in Canada;

  • (b) a corporation or entity incorporated, formed or otherwise organized outside Canada that does not carry on business in Canada or whose primary purpose in Canada during an election period is to influence electors during that period to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election;

  • (c) a trade union that does not hold bargaining rights for employees in Canada;

  • (d) a foreign political party; or

  • (e) a foreign government or an agent or mandatary of a foreign government.

• Marginal note:Meaning of unduly influencing

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person or entity unduly influences an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election if

  • (a) they knowingly incur any expense to directly promote or oppose a candidate in that election, a registered party that has endorsed a candidate in that election or the leader of such a registered party;

  • (b) one of the things done by them to influence the elector is an offence under an Act of Parliament or a regulation made under any such Act, or under an Act of the legislature of a province or a regulation made under any such Act.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not apply if the only thing done by the person or entity to influence the elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for the particular candidate or registered party, consists of

  • (a) an expression of their opinion about the outcome or desired outcome of the election;

  • (b) a statement by them that encourages the elector to vote or refrain from voting for any candidate or registered party in the election; or

  • (c) the transmission to the public through broadcasting, or through electronic or print media, of an editorial, a debate, a speech, an interview, a column, a letter, a commentary or news, regardless of the expense incurred in doing so, if no contravention of subsection 330(1) or (2) is involved in the transmission.

• Marginal note:Collusion

  (4) No person or entity shall act in collusion with a person or entity to whom subsection (1) applies for the purpose of contravening that subsection.

• Marginal note:Selling advertising space

  (5) No person or entity shall sell any advertising space to a person or entity to whom subsection (1) applies for the purpose of enabling that person or entity to transmit an election advertising message or to cause an election advertising message to be transmitted.

Marginal note:Interfering with marking of ballot

282.5 No person shall interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, an elector who is marking a ballot or special ballot.

Marginal note:Preventing elector from voting

282.6 No person shall prevent or attempt to prevent an elector from voting at an election.

Marginal note:Offering bribe

• 282.7 (1) No person shall, during an election period, directly or indirectly, offer a bribe to influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election.

• Marginal note:Accepting bribe

  (2) No person shall, during an election period, accept or agree to accept a bribe that is offered to them to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election.

Marginal note:Intimidation, etc.

282.8 No person shall

• (a) by intimidation or duress, compel or attempt to compel a person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election; or

• (b) by any pretence or contrivance, including by representing that the ballot or special ballot or the manner of voting at an election is not secret, influence or attempt to influence a person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election.

PART 12Counting Votes

Polling Stations

Marginal note:Counting the votes

• 283 (1) Immediately after the close of a polling station, an election officer who is assigned to the polling station shall count the votes in the presence of

  • (a) another election officer who is assigned to the polling station; and

  • (b) any candidates or their representatives who are present or, if no candidates or representatives are present, at least two electors.

• Marginal note:Tally sheets

  (2) One of those election officers shall supply all the persons referred to in paragraph (1)(b) who are present and who request one with a tally sheet to keep their own score of the voting.

• Marginal note:Steps to follow

  (3) The election officer who counts the votes shall, in the following order,

  • (a) count the number of electors who voted, count the number of those to whom a certificate was given under subsection 161(4), make an entry at the end of the list of electors that states “The number of electors who voted at this election is (stating the number). Of these, the number of electors to whom a certificate was given under subsection 161(4) is (stating the number).”, sign the list and place the list in the envelope supplied for that purpose;

  • (b) count the spoiled ballots, place them in the envelope supplied for the purpose, indicate on the envelope the number of spoiled ballots, and seal it;

  • (c) count the unused ballots that are not detached from the books of ballots, place them with the stubs of the used ballots in the envelope supplied for the purpose, indicate on the envelope the number of unused ballots, and seal it;

  • (d) total the number of electors indicated under paragraph (a) who voted and the numbers arrived at in paragraphs (b) and (c) in order to ascertain that all ballots that were provided by the returning officer are accounted for;

  • (e) open the ballot box and empty its contents onto a table; and

  • (f) examine each ballot, show the ballot to each person who is present, and ask the election officer referred to in paragraph (1)(a) to make a note on the tally sheet beside the name of the candidate for whom the vote was cast for the purpose of arriving at the total number of votes cast for each candidate.

Marginal note:Rejection of ballots

• 284 (1) In examining the ballots, the election officer who counts the votes shall reject one

  • (a) that has not been supplied by him or her;

  • (b) that has not been marked in a circle at the right of the candidates’ names;

  • (c) that is void by virtue of section 76;

  • (d) that has been marked in more than one circle at the right of the candidates’ names; or

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

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) No ballot shall be rejected by reason only that an election officer placed on it any writing, number or mark, or failed to remove the counterfoil or to write the elector’s polling division number on the back of the ballot.

• Marginal note:Counterfoils remaining attached

  (3) If a ballot is found with the counterfoil attached, the election officer who counts the votes shall, while concealing the number on it from all persons present and without examining it, remove and destroy the counterfoil.

Marginal note:Ballots not initialled by election officer

285 If the election officer who counts the votes determines that a ballot has not been initialed by an election officer, he or she shall, in the presence of the election officer referred to in paragraph 283(1)(a) and witnesses, initial and count the ballot if satisfied that all ballots that were provided by the returning officer have been accounted for, as described in paragraph 283(3)(d).

Marginal note:Objections to ballots

• 286 (1) One of the election officers referred to in subsection 283(1) shall make a record, in the prescribed form, of every objection to a ballot made by a candidate or candidate’s representative, give a number to the objection, write that number on the ballot and initial it.

• Marginal note:Decision of election officer

  (2) Every question that is raised by the objection shall be decided by the election officer who counts the votes, and the decision is subject to reversal only on a recount or on application under subsection 524(1).

Marginal note:Statement of vote

• 287 (1) The election officer who counts the votes shall prepare a statement of the vote, in the prescribed form, that sets out the number of votes in favour of each candidate and the number of rejected ballots and shall place the original statement and a copy of it in the separate envelopes supplied for the purpose.

• Marginal note:Copies of statement of vote

  (2) The election officer shall give a copy of the statement of the vote to each of the candidates’ representatives present at the count.