Bill C-2
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DIVISION 6 |
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Counting of Votes at the Office of the
Chief Electoral Officer
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Application
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263. This Division applies to the counting
of all special ballots cast in accordance with
this Part, except those referred to in Division
7.
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Adminis- tration
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264. (1) The counting of the special ballots
shall be conducted by special ballot officers
under the supervision of the special voting
rules administrator.
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Special ballot
officers
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(2) Special ballot officers shall work in
pairs of persons representing different
registered parties.
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Directives
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265. The Chief Electoral Officer shall
prescribe security instructions for the
safekeeping of special ballots, inner
envelopes, outer envelopes and all other
election documents, and instructions for the
receiving, sorting and counting of special
ballots.
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Counting of
votes
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266. The counting of votes shall commence
on a date to be fixed by the Chief Electoral
Officer or, if no date is fixed, on Wednesday,
the 5th day before polling day.
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Setting aside
of outer
envelope
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267. (1) The special ballot officers shall set
aside an outer envelope unopened when they
ascertain on its examination that
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Procedure
when elector
votes more
than once
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(2) If, after receiving but before counting
the outer envelopes, the special ballot officers
ascertain that an elector has voted more than
once, they shall lay the outer envelopes that
relate to the elector aside unopened.
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Disposition of
outer
envelopes that
are laid aside
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(3) When an outer envelope is laid aside
unopened as described in subsection (1) or (2),
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Special report
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(4) The special voting rules administrator
shall prepare a report in respect of the number
of outer envelopes that are laid aside under
this Division.
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Duties of
special ballot
officers
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268. Each pair of special ballot officers
shall count the votes for only one electoral
district or part of an electoral district at a time.
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Rejection of
ballots
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269. (1) Each pair of special ballot officers
shall, on examining a special ballot, reject it if
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Elector's
intent
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(2) No special ballot shall be rejected for the
sole reason that the elector has incorrectly
written the name of a candidate, if the ballot
clearly indicates the elector's intent.
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Disputed
ballots
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(3) If a dispute arises as to the validity of a
special ballot, it shall be referred to the special
voting rules administrator, whose decision is
final.
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Note of
dispute
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(4) The number of disputed special ballots
and the name of the electoral district in which
they were cast are to be noted by the special
ballot officers.
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Statements of
the vote
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270. (1) Each pair of special ballot officers
shall prepare a statement of the vote in the
prescribed form and deliver it to the special
voting rules administrator.
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Safekeeping
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(2) The special voting rules administrator
shall keep the statements of the vote in safe
custody until the day after the communication
of the results under section 280.
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Copy to
special ballot
officer
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(3) On request, after the day that the results
are communicated, a special ballot officer
may be given a copy of the statement of the
vote that he or she prepared.
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Chief
Electoral
Officer to be
informed of
results of vote
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271. Without delay after the counting of the
votes for every electoral district has been
completed, the special voting rules
administrator shall inform the Chief Electoral
Officer of
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Sending of
material to
Chief
Electoral
Officer
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272. As soon as practicable after the
counting of the votes for every electoral
district has been completed, the special voting
rules administrator shall send to the Chief
Electoral Officer, in separate envelopes,
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DIVISION 7 |
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Counting of Votes in the Office of the
Returning Officer
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Appointment
of deputy
returning
officer and
poll clerk
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273. (1) The returning officer shall appoint
a deputy returning officer and poll clerk to
verify the outer envelopes and to count the
special ballots issued to electors in his or her
electoral district and received in his or her
office. More than one deputy returning officer
and poll clerk may be appointed if the number
of votes warrants it.
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Assignment of
duties
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(2) The returning officer shall assign duties
so that a deputy returning officer chosen from
among the persons recommended by the
registered party whose candidate finished first
in the last election in the electoral district
works with a poll clerk chosen from among the
persons recommended by the registered party
whose candidate finished second in that
election in that electoral district.
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Merger of
parties
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(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), in
determining whether the candidate of a
registered party finished first or second in the
last election in a case where the registered
party is the result of a merger with one or more
parties that were registered parties at the last
election, there shall be attributed to the
candidate of the merged party, the number of
votes of the candidate of the merging party
with the largest number of votes at that last
election.
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Notification to
candidates
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(4) The returning officer shall, as soon as
possible, notify the candidates of the name
and address of the persons appointed as the
deputy returning officer and the poll clerk.
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Candidate
present at
counting
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274. A candidate or his or her representative
may be present for the verification of the outer
envelopes and the counting of ballots received
at the office of the returning officer.
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Ballots to be
kept sealed
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275. (1) The returning officer shall ensure
that the ballots received at his or her office are
kept sealed until they are given to the deputy
returning officer.
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Return outer
envelopes
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(2) All outer envelopes received after the
prescribed deadline shall be kept separate and
sealed and shall be initialled by the returning
officer and marked with the date and time of
their receipt.
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Verification of
envelopes
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276. (1) A deputy returning officer and a
poll clerk shall verify the outer envelopes, at
the time fixed by the Chief Electoral Officer
and in accordance with his or her instructions,
by determining from the information on the
outer envelope whether the elector is entitled
to vote in the electoral district.
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Notice
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(2) The returning officer shall notify the
candidates of the time and place of the
verification.
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Provision of
materials to
deputy
returning
officer
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(3) The deputy returning officer shall be
provided with the applications for registration
and special ballot received before the
deadline, along with any other materials that
may be required.
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Setting aside
of outer
envelope
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277. (1) The deputy returning officer shall
set aside an outer envelope unopened when he
or she ascertains on its examination that
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Registering
objections
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(2) When the outer envelopes are verified,
the poll clerk shall register any objection to an
elector's right to vote in the electoral district
in the prescribed form.
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Noting of
reasons for
setting aside
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(3) When an outer envelope is set aside
unopened as described in subsection (1), the
deputy returning officer shall note on it the
reasons for the rejection. The deputy returning
officer and the poll clerk shall initial the
envelope.
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Counting of
outer
envelopes
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278. (1) The deputy returning officer and
the poll clerk shall count all valid outer
envelopes.
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Inner
envelopes
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(2) The deputy returning officer and the poll
clerk shall open the outer envelopes and put all
the inner envelopes in a ballot box provided by
the returning officer.
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Counting the
votes
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(3) After the close of the polling stations,
the deputy returning officer shall open the
ballot box and he or she together with the poll
clerk shall open the inner envelopes and count
the votes.
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Rejection of
ballots
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279. (1) The deputy returning officer shall,
in counting the ballots, reject a ballot if
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Elector's
intent
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(2) The deputy returning officer shall not
reject a special ballot for the sole reason that
the elector has incorrectly written the name of
a candidate, if the ballot clearly indicates the
elector's intent.
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Political
affiliation
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(3) The deputy returning officer shall not
reject a special ballot for the sole reason that
the elector has written, in addition to the name
of a candidate, the name of the registered party
or the word ``independent'', if the ballot
clearly indicates the elector's intent.
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DIVISION 8 |
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Communication of the Results of the
Vote
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Communica- tion of results
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280. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall,
without delay after the closing of the polling
stations at an election, inform each returning
officer of the results of the count under
Division 6 for the returning officer's electoral
district, giving the number of votes cast for
each candidate and the number of rejected
ballots.
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Release of
information
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(2) When the returning officer receives
information from the Chief Electoral Officer
respecting the results of the count under
Division 6, the returning officer shall add
those results to the results of the count under
Division 7 and release all of them as being the
results of the vote under the Special Voting
Rules.
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