Some of the detailed recommendations include the authorization to:
• Set up and conduct pilot projects during by-elections or general elections so to test various service models for both electors and candidates
• Allow political parties and electoral district associations (i.e. riding associations), rather than just candidates, to appoint deputy returning officers, poll clerks and registration officers which would allow for more time to train these officers.
• Allow candidate’s representatives to be sworn in by the central poll supervisor or by the deputy returning officer of the first polling station visited at a polling site and allow representatives to act in all the polling stations for which they have been appointed and which are located in that polling site, without having to take the oath again.
• Remove the date of birth of electors from the revised voters list and from the official list of electors used by the deputy returning officer to conduct the vote. This would reduce the risk of misuse of this piece of personal information, which is not required for voter identification purposes. In addition, the definition of “election documents” should be amended to include all forms used at the polling station to collect personal information on an elector. These forms would thus benefit from the increased protection afforded election documents.
• Prohibit the posting or displaying of campaign materials to within 100 metres of the polling site, and give election officers the authorization to remove any such materials within the 100 metre zone.
• Facilitate the registration of electors over the Internet • Allow electors the ability to vouch for more than one member of their immediate family.
• Reword the rules for election advertising by third parties to apply to those expenses related to election advertising that are incurred before the beginning of the election period if the advertising is transmitted during the election period. Similarly, electoral district associations should be prohibited from transmitting election advertising during an election period, even when the associated expenses are incurred before the beginning of the election period.
• Provide a voting process for electors who are incarcerated in federal institutions, similar to what is already in place for provincial correctional institutions.
• Authorize media representatives, upon request, to be present and to film or photograph registered party leaders and the candidates running against them as they cast their ballot.
• Amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act or the Canada Elections Act to prohibit employees of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, while unionized, to participate in a strike.
The full report and its recommendations can be found at
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&docum ent=index&dir=rep/re2/r40&lang=e&textonly=false
Declining Voter Participation
In April the Government of Canada introduced The Increasing Voter Participation Act, in response to the declining voter participation over the years. The Act adds two new advance polling days to the campaign period. The first additional day would be on the Sunday eight days before Election-Day and the second would be on the Sunday before Election-Day. All 65,000 regular polls will be open on the Sunday before Election-Day designed to maximize voting opportunities for Canadians. European examples has shown that opening polling stations on Sundays leads to greater voter turnout. For instance, in the French presidential election held Sunday, May 6, voter turnout was 85%. While voter participation rates in national elections averaged around 75 per cent
for much of the post-war era, voter turnout fell to 67% in 1997, 61.2% in the 2000 election and 60.5% in 2004. Although turnout in the 2006 election rose slightly to 64.9%, it fell again in the 2008 election to an all-time low of 58.8%. On the positive, Canadians are increasingly making use of advance polls to
cast their vote. In 1997, a total of 704,336 Canadians voted at advance polls, representing 5% of total votes cast. In the 2008 election, 1.5 million Canadians voted at advance polls, or 11% of total votes cast.
Source:
www.democraticreform.gc.ca June 2010 | Campaigns & Elections 75
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