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

Marginal note:Prohibition — acting in another capacity

31 No returning officer or assistant returning officer appointed under subsection 26(1) shall act in any other capacity under this Act.

Election Officers Appointed by Returning Officer

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).

32.1 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 29]

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.

34 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 29]

35 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 29]

36 [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 29]

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.

Equality of Votes

Marginal note:List of names to be provided

40 The registered parties that have the right to provide the returning officer with lists of names of suitable persons to be appointed as election officers for the purposes of a by-election under subsection 29(1.1) of the Parliament of Canada Act because of an equality of votes are the same registered parties as those who had that right for the purposes of the election that resulted in the equality of votes.

New Electoral Districts

Marginal note:Results transposed

• 41 (1) When a new electoral district is established, the Chief Electoral Officer shall transpose the results from the previous general election to the polling divisions that are in the new electoral district in order to determine which registered parties’ candidates, registered associations or registered parties have the right to provide the returning officer for that electoral district with lists of persons to be appointed as election officers.

• (2) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 30]

• (3) [Repealed, 2018, c. 31, s. 30]

• 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.

Merger of Registered Parties

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.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Prohibitions

43 No person shall

• (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.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a person who is in control of a multiple-residence building whose residents’ physical or emotional well-being may be harmed as a result of permitting the activities referred to in that subsection.

PART 4Register 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.

• Marginal note:Contents of lists of electors

  (2) The lists of electors shall set out each elector’s surname, given names, civic address and mailing address, and the identifier that is assigned to the elector by the Chief Electoral Officer and shall be arranged in the form established by the Chief Electoral Officer according to the civic addresses of the electors or, if that is not appropriate, in alphabetical order by their surnames.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) This section does not apply if November 15 falls during an election period or if the vote at a general election was held during the six months before that date.

• Marginal note:Merger of parties

  (4) For the purpose of subsection (1), a registered party that is the result of a merger of two or more registered parties is deemed to have endorsed a candidate in the last election if one of the merging parties so endorsed a candidate.

Updates

Marginal note:Sources of information

• 46 (1) The Register of Electors and the Register of Future Electors shall be updated from

  • (a) information

    • (i) that electors or future electors, as the case may be, have given the Chief Electoral Officer, or

    • (ii) that is held by a federal department or body and that electors or future electors, as the case may be, have expressly authorized to be given to the Chief Electoral Officer; and

  • (b) information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers reliable and necessary for updating the surname, given names, gender, date of birth, civic address and mailing address of electors and future electors included in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, as the case may be, and that

    • (i) is held under an Act of the legislature of a province mentioned in Schedule 2, or

    • (ii) comes from any other source mentioned in Schedule 2.

• Marginal note:Source of information: Register of Future Electors

  (1.01) The Register of Electors shall be updated from information that the Chief Electoral Officer holds in the Register of Future Electors about future electors who become electors.

• Marginal note:Retention of certain information

  (1.1) The Chief Electoral Officer may retain information collected under paragraph (1)(b), but not included in the Register of Electors or Register of Future Electors, for the purpose of correlating information subsequently collected with information already contained in the relevant register.

• Marginal note:Amendments to Schedule 2

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer may at any time amend Schedule 2 by adding, changing or deleting the name of an Act of the legislature of a province or of any other source of information, but no such amendment comes into force until notice of it is published in the Canada Gazette.