Bill C-2
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Supply of Election Materials to Deputy Returning Officer |
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Materials to
be supplied to
deputy
returning
officers
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119. (1) Before voting begins, each
returning officer shall provide each deputy
returning officer in his or her electoral district
with
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Safekeeping
of election
materials
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(2) Until the opening of the poll, each
deputy returning officer is responsible for all
election materials in his or her possession and
shall take every precaution for the
safekeeping of those materials and to prevent
any person from having unlawful access to
them.
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Polling Stations and Central Polling Places |
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Establish- ment of polling stations
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120. (1) Each returning officer shall, for
polling day, establish one polling station for
each polling division.
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Multiple
polling
stations
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(2) A returning officer may, with the prior
approval of the Chief Electoral Officer,
establish several polling stations for a polling
division if, because of the number of electors
on the list of electors for the polling division,
the returning officer believes it necessary for
the conduct of the vote, and each of those
polling stations is to be designated by the
number of the polling division to which is
added the letter A, B, C and so on.
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Division of
list of electors
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(3) The returning officer shall divide the
official list of electors for a polling division
into as many separate lists as are required for
the taking of the votes at each polling station.
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Certificate of
returning
officer
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(4) To each portion of the official list of
electors that is divided, the returning officer
shall, before sending the portion to the deputy
returning officer for the polling station,
append a certificate signed by the returning
officer in the prescribed form attesting to its
correctness.
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Level access
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121. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a polling
station shall be in premises with level access.
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Exception
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(2) If a returning officer is unable to secure
suitable premises with level access for use as
a polling station, the returning officer may,
with the prior approval of the Chief Electoral
Officer, locate the polling station in premises
without level access.
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Voting
compart- ments
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(3) Each polling station shall contain one or
two voting compartments arranged so that
each elector is screened from observation and
may, without interference or interruption,
mark their ballot.
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Table or desk
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(4) Each voting compartment shall be
placed on a hard and smooth surface and shall
have in it a suitable black lead pencil for the
use of electors in marking their ballots.
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Polling station
in adjacent
polling
division
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122. (1) If a returning officer is unable to
secure suitable premises to be used as a polling
station within a polling division, the returning
officer may establish a polling station in an
adjacent polling division and all the
provisions of this Act apply as if the polling
station were within the polling division to
which it appertains.
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Polling station
in school or
other public
building
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(2) Whenever possible, a returning officer
shall locate a polling station in a school or
other suitable public building and shall locate
the polling station or the polling stations in a
central polling place, at a place or places in the
building that will provide ease of access to
electors.
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Polling station
in federal
buildings
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(3) A returning officer may require the
officer in charge of a building owned or
occupied by the Government of Canada to
make premises in that building available for
use as a polling station, and the officer to
whom the requirement is directed shall make
every reasonable effort to comply with the
requirement.
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Central
polling place
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123. (1) A returning officer may, if he or she
considers it advisable, place several polling
stations together in a central polling place.
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Number of
polling
stations
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(2) A returning officer shall not group
together more than 15 polling stations in a
central polling place without the prior
approval of the Chief Electoral Officer.
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Presumption
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(3) On the establishment of a central polling
place under subsection (1), all of the
provisions of this Act apply as if each polling
station at the central polling place were within
the polling division to which it appertains.
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Appoint- ments at central polling place
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124. (1) When a returning officer
establishes a central polling place, the
returning officer may appoint, with the prior
approval of the Chief Electoral Officer,
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Central poll
supervisor
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(2) When a returning officer establishes a
central polling place that contains four or
more polling stations, the returning officer
may appoint a central poll supervisor to attend
at the central polling place on polling day to
supervise proceedings and keep the returning
officer informed of any matter that adversely
affects, or is likely to adversely affect, the
proceedings.
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Mobile
polling station
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125. (1) When a polling division consisting
of two or more institutions is constituted under
subsection 538(5), the returning officer may
establish a mobile polling station to be located
in each of those institutions successively.
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Voting hours
for mobile
polling station
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(2) The returning officer shall set the times
during which a mobile polling station will be
located in the institutions referred to in
subsection (1).
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Notice
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(3) The returning officer shall give notice to
the candidates of the itinerary of the mobile
polling station in accordance with the
instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.
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Provisions
applicable to
mobile polls
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(4) Subject to the instructions of the Chief
Electoral Officer, the provisions of this Act
that relate to ordinary polls shall, in so far as
they are applicable, apply to mobile polling
stations.
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Prohibitions |
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Prohibitions
re ballots, etc.
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126. No person shall
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PART 9 |
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VOTING |
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Voting Opportunities |
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Manner of
voting
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127. An elector may vote
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Polling Day |
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Hours
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Hours of
voting
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128. The voting hours on polling day are
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Daylight- saving time
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129. The Chief Electoral Officer may, if he
or she considers it necessary, set the voting
hours for the electoral district so that the
opening and closing of its polls coincide with
the opening and closing of the polls in other
electoral districts in the same time zone.
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When polls lie
in two time
zones
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130. When more than one local time is
observed in an electoral district, the returning
officer shall, with the prior approval of the
Chief Electoral Officer, determine one local
time to be observed for every operation
prescribed by this Act, and shall publish the
hours in the Notice of Election referred to in
section 62.
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By-elections
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131. If only one by-election is held or if
more than one by-election is held on the same
day and all of them are in the same time zone,
the hours of voting are from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30
p.m.
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Time to Employees for Voting
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Consecutive
hours for
voting
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132. (1) Every employee who is an elector
is entitled, during voting hours on polling day,
to have three consecutive hours for the
purpose of casting his or her vote and, if his or
her hours of work do not allow for those three
consecutive hours, his or her employer shall
allow the time for voting that is necessary to
provide those three consecutive hours.
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Time at
convenience
of employer
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(2) The time that the employer shall allow
for voting under subsection (1) is at the
convenience of the employer.
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Transporta- tion companies
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(3) This section and section 133 do not
apply to an employee of a company that
transports goods or passengers by land, air or
water who is employed outside his or her
polling division in the operation of a means of
transportation, if the additional time referred
to in subsection (1) cannot be allowed without
interfering with the transportation service.
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No penalty for
absence from
work to vote
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133. (1) No employer may make a
deduction from the pay of an employee, or
impose a penalty, for the time that the
employer shall allow for voting under
subsection 132(1).
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Hourly,
piece-work or
other basis of
employment
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(2) An employer who pays an employee less
than the amount that the employee would have
earned on polling day, had the employee
continued to work during the time referred to
in subsection 132(2) that the employer
allowed for voting, is deemed to have made a
deduction from the pay of the employee,
regardless of the basis on which the employee
is paid.
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Prohibition
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134. No employer shall, by intimidation,
undue influence or by any other means,
interfere with the granting to an elector in their
employ of the three consecutive hours for
voting, as provided for in section 132.
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Proceedings at the Poll
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Who may be
present at
polling station
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135. (1) The only persons who may be
present at a polling station on polling day are
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Delivery of
representa- tive's authorization
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(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 to the deputy returning officer.
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Represen- tative authorized in writing
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(3) A representative bearing a written
authorization referred to in subsection (2) is
deemed to be a representative of the candidate
within the meaning of this Act and is entitled
to represent the candidate in preference to, and
to the exclusion of, any elector who might
otherwise claim the right to represent the
candidate.
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Oath of
secrecy
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(4) Each representative of a candidate or
each elector described in paragraph (1)(d), on
being admitted to the polling station, shall
take an oath in the prescribed form.
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Presence of
representa- tives
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136. (1) A candidate or the candidate's
official agent may authorize any number of
representatives of the candidate to be present
at a polling station, but only two of each
candidate's representatives may be present at
any time.
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Representa- tives may absent themselves from poll
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(2) A representative of a candidate, or an
elector described in paragraph 135(1)(d), may
leave a polling station at any time and return
at any time before the counting of the votes
begins and is not required to produce a new
written authorization from the candidate or
official agent or to take another oath.
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Examination
of list of
electors and
conveying
information
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(3) A representative of a candidate may,
during voting hours,
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Communica- tions device
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(4) A representative of a candidate shall not
use a communications device at a polling
station during voting hours.
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Candidate
may act as
representa- tive
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137. (1) A candidate may perform the duties
of a representative of the candidate, or may
assist the representative in the performance of
those duties, and may be present at any place
that the representative is authorized to attend
under this Act.
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Non-attendan- ce of representa- tives
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(2) The non-attendance of a representative
of a candidate at any time or place authorized
by this Act does not in any way invalidate any
act or thing done during the absence of the
representative if the act or thing is otherwise
duly done.
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Initialling
ballots
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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, the deputy returning officer
shall initial the back of every ballot in the
space indicated in Form 3 of Schedule 1,
entirely in ink or entirely in black lead pencil
so that when the ballot is folded the initials can
be seen. The initials shall be as similar as
possible on each ballot.
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Ballots not to
be detached
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(2) For the purpose of initialling, the ballots
shall not be detached from the books in which
they are contained.
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