Canada Elections Act

Marginal note:Elector to declare name, etc.

• 143 (1) Each elector, on arriving at the polling station, shall give his or her name and address to the deputy returning officer and the poll clerk, and, on request, to a candidate or his or her representative.

• Marginal note:Proof of identity and residence

  (2) If the poll clerk 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 the elector shall provide the deputy returning officer and the poll clerk with the following proof of the elector’s identity and, subject to subsection (3), his or her residence:

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

  • (b) two pieces of identification of a type authorized under subsection (2.1), each of which establishes the elector’s name and at least one of which establishes the elector’s address.

• 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 — other than a notice of confirmation of registration sent under section 95 or 102 — regardless of who issued the document, may be authorized.

• Marginal note:Person registered as an Indian

  (2.2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), a document issued by the Government of Canada that certifies that a person is registered as an Indian under the Indian Act constitutes an authorized piece of identification.

• Marginal note:Alternative proof of residence

  (3) An elector who proves his or her identity by providing two pieces of identification of a type authorized under subsection (2.1) that establish the elector’s name may instead prove his or her residence by taking an oath in writing in the prescribed form — the form including the statement that he or she has received the oral advice set out in subsection 143.1(1) — if he or she is accompanied by another elector whose name appears on the list of electors for the same polling division who

  • (a) proves their own identity and residence to the deputy returning officer and poll clerk by providing the piece or pieces of identification referred to in paragraph (2)(a) or (b), respectively; and

  • (b) attests to the elector’s residence on oath in writing in the prescribed form, the form including the statements that

    • (i) they have received the oral advice set out in subsection 143.1(2),

    • (ii) they know the elector personally,

    • (iii) they know that the elector resides in the polling division,

    • (iv) they have not attested to the residence of another elector at the election, and

    • (v) their own residence has not been attested to by another elector at the election.

• Marginal note:Proof of residence

  (3.1) If the address contained in the piece or pieces of identification provided under subsection (2) or paragraph (3)(a) does not prove the elector’s residence but is consistent with information related to the elector that appears on the list of electors, the elector’s residence is deemed to have been proven.

• Marginal note:Request to take an oath

  (3.2) Despite subsection (3.1), a deputy returning officer, poll clerk, candidate or candidate’s representative who has reasonable doubts concerning the residence of an elector referred to in that subsection may request that the elector take the prescribed oath, in which case his or her residence is deemed to have been proven only if he or she takes that oath.

• Marginal note:Examination of identification documents

  (3.3) A candidate or their representative may examine but not handle any piece of identification presented under this section.

• Marginal note:Voting

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

• Marginal note:Prohibition — attesting to residence of more than one elector

  (5) No elector shall attest to the residence of more than one elector at an election.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — attesting to residence (own residence attested to)

  (6) No elector whose own residence has been attested to at an election shall attest to another elector’s residence at that election.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (7) The Chief Electoral Officer shall publish each year, and within three days after the issue of a writ, in a manner that he or she considers appropriate, a notice setting out the types of identification that are authorized for the purpose of paragraph (2)(b). The first annual notice shall be published no later than six months after the coming into force of this subsection.