Fourth

Session, 45th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2007

BILL 21

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

ELECTIONS ACT, 1991

Received and Read the First Time ............................................................................ May

24, 2007

Second Reading ............................................................................................................ June 4,

Committee

...............................................................................................

Amendment

June 4, 2007

Third Reading

............................................................................................................... June 7, 2007

Royal Assent .....................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

THOMAS G. RIDEOUT

Government House Leader

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Clause 1 of the Bill would repeal and

replace

section 13 of the Elections Act,

1991 to allow the names and addresses of returning officers to be published

in various media rather than only in the Gazette .

Clause 2 would amend subsection 28(2)

of the Act to increase the size of polling divisions.

Clause 3 of the Bill would add a

proposed

section 56.2 to the Act which would allow the Chief Electoral Officer

to enter into agreements with municipalities and school boards in order to

obtain information respecting electors for the purpose of updating elector

lists.

Clause 4 of the Bill would amend paragraph

70(1)(

c) of the Act to increase the deposit amount required for filing a

candidate's nomination papers from $100 to $200.

Clause 5 of the Bill would repeal and

replace paragraph 73(2)(

a) of the Act to correct an incorrect citation.

Clause 6 of the Bill would repeal and

replace subsection 74(4) of the Act to allow the Chief Electoral Officer to

release lists of electors to political parties every April 1 rather than only

after the issue of a writ of election.

Clause 7 of the Bill would amend subsection

86(4) of the Act to permit persons to apply for a vote by special ballot 4

weeks before the issue of a writ of election and would allow the Chief

Electoral Officer to determine the latest date by which such an application

could be made.

Clause 8 of the Bill would add

proposed subsections 86.4(4), (5) and (6) of the Act which would ensure that

the distribution of special ballot kits and assistance to special ballot voters

is provided by election officials only and the return of the kits is provided

by the election official or the elector only.

Clause 9 of the Bill would repeal and

replace subsections 86.6(2) and 86.6(6) of the Act to allow the Chief Electoral

Officer to set the day when declaration envelopes are to be removed from

special ballot boxes and the day for the opening of the special balloting

boxes. The time of day for these openings has also been delayed until 6 p.m.

of the chosen day.

Clause 10 of the Bill would amend subsection

92(3) of the Act by removing the requirement to have only 50 ballots in each

book printed and bound for an election.

Clause 11 of the Bill would repeal

section 129 of the Act which provides for a different oath for electors voting

by special ballot and in conjunction with the repeal and replacement of

section

130 at clause 12 would require that special ballot voters take the same oath as

an elector at an ordinary poll on the scheduled election polling day.

Clause 13 of the Bill would repeal

and replace subsection 145(3) of the Act and in conjunction with the amendment

to paragraph 159(1)(

b) at clause 14 would remove the requirement for the deputy

returning officer to deliver a copy of the statement of poll to the candidates.

The statement is still provided to the scrutineers.

Clause 15 of the Bill would add a

proposed subsection 184(2) to the Act to allow the Chief Electoral Officer to

reopen ballot boxes after the date upon which an application may be made

respecting an improper election return without a court order in order to obtain

information relevant to the compiling of a list of electors.

Clause 16 of the Bill would amend the

definition of "campaign period" in paragraph 269(1)(

c) of the Act by

changing the end of a campaign period to 4 months after polling day rather than

6 months after polling day.

Clause 17 of the Bill would amend

subsection 304(1) of the Act to require the filing of election financial

statements within 4 months of polling day rather than within 6 months of polling

day.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE ELECTIONS ACT, 1991

Analysis

S.13 R&S

Publication of returning officers

S.28 Amdt.

Polling divisions

S.56.2 Added

Agreements with municipalities and school boards

S.70 Amdt.

Conditions to be met

S.73 Amdt.

Disposal of deposit

S.74 Amdt.

Closing nominations

S.86 Amdt.

Vote by special ballot

S.86.4 Amdt.

Casting of vote

S.86.6 Amdt.

Counting of ballots

S.92 Amdt.

Printing ballots

S.129 Rep.

Requirements of elector

S.130 R&S

Requirements of elector

S.145 Amdt.

Statement of the poll

S.159 Amdt.

Missing ballot box

S.184 Amdt.

Production of election documents

S.269 Amdt.

Interpretation

S.304 Amdt.

Filing financial statement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL1992 cE-3.1

as amended

Section 13 of the Elections Act, 1991 is repealed and the following substituted:

Publication of

returning officers

13. The

Chief Electoral Officer shall, as he or she considers appropriate, publish or

announce in a newspaper, magazine or other print, visual, audio or electronic media

accessible in an electoral district or on a website established for the

purpose, a list of the names and addresses of the returning officers for that

electoral district.

2. [Deleted by Amendment in Committee on June 4, 2007 .]

3. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 56.1 the following:

Agreements with

municipalities and school boards

56.2

(1) The

Chief Electoral Officer may enter into an agreement with a municipality or a

board with respect to the supply and exchange of information necessary for a revision,

correction or compilation of a Permanent List of Electors.

(2) In this

section

(a) "board" means a board as defined in

the Schools Act, 1997 ; and

(b) "municipality" means a municipality

as defined in the Municipal Elections Act .

4. Paragraph 70(1)(

c) of the Act is amended by

deleting the amount "$100" and substituting the amount "$200".

5. Paragraph 73(2)(

a) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(

a) where, in accordance with

section 304

(

i) the district association of the registered

party with whom the candidate is affiliated has filed financial statements, or

(ii) the candidate who is a non-affiliated

candidate personally entitled under

section 312 to be reimbursed for his or her

election expenses has filed financial statements,

be returned to the candidate;

6. Subsection 74(4) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(4) The Chief Electoral Officer shall

(

a) on April 1 of each year furnish to each

political party registered under

Part III a copy of the list of electors for

the electoral districts involved in the election; and

(

b) upon the filing of nomination papers with the

returning officer for a candidate who has been officially nominated by a party,

or as soon afterwards as possible, furnish to that candidate a copy of the list

of electors for the electoral district in which the candidate is nominated.

(4.1) In addition to the list of electors provided

under subsection (4), not later than 5 days before polling day, the Chief

Electoral Officer shall furnish to

(

a) each political party registered under

Part

III, an updated list of the electors for the electoral districts involved in

the election; and

(

b) each candidate, an updated list of the

electors for the electoral district for which that candidate is nominated.

7. Subsection 86(4) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(4) An application to vote by special ballot may

be made to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer beginning not more than 4

weeks before the issue of the writ of election and ending at 6:00 p.m. on a day to be determined by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Section 86.4 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(4) A special ballot kit shall be distributed to

an elector by an election official only.

(5) A special ballot kit shall be returned to the

Chief Electoral Officer by the elector or an election official only.

(6) Where a voter requires assistance in the completion

of his or her special ballot, that assistance shall be provided by an election

official only.

(1) Subsection 86.6(2) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Notwithstanding

section 216, at 6:00 p.m.

on a day before polling day to be determined by the Chief Electoral Officer,

the declaration envelopes shall be removed from the ballot box by the Special

Ballot Administrator or a special ballot officer in the presence of the persons

designated under

section 86.5 or, where they are not available, in the presence

of 2 other witnesses.

(2) Subsection 86.6(6) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(6) Notwithstanding

section 216, at 6 p.m. on a

day before polling day to be determined by the Chief Electoral Officer, the

Special Ballot Administrator or a special ballot officer, in the presence of

the persons designated under

section 86.5 to act as scrutineers, or 2 other

witnesses, where the scrutineers are not available, shall open the ballot

boxes, open the sealed ballot envelopes and proceed to count the votes.

10. Subsection 92(3) of the Act is amended by

deleting the word and number "containing 50".

Section 129 of the Act is repealed.

Section 130 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Requirements of

elector

130. The

deputy returning officer, a candidate or a scrutineer of a candidate may

require that a person offering himself or herself as an elector at an advance

poll take, before being handed a ballot, an oath that an elector at an ordinary

poll on the scheduled polling day may be required to take.

13. Subsection 145(3) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(3) The deputy returning officer shall deliver one

copy of the statement of the poll to each of the scrutineers.

14. Paragraph 159(1)(

b) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "candidates or their".

Section 184 of the Act is amended by

renumbering it as subsection 184(1) and by adding immediately after that

subsection the following:

(2) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and 185(1),

after the date upon which an application may be made under

section 235 has

passed, the Chief Electoral Officer may, for the purpose of revising and correcting

the Permanent List of Electors under

section 56, open a sealed ballot box in

the presence of the Clerk of the House of Assembly and, with respect to that

opened box,

(

a) may remove the contents relevant to the

revising and correction of the Permanent List of Electors; and

(

b) shall ensure that the contents of an opened

ballot box are used or kept in a secure place; and

(

c) shall reseal the opened ballot box with a

numbered seal making a record of the number on the seal used and furnishing the

Clerk of the House of Assembly with a copy of the record.

16. Paragraph 269(1)(

c) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "6" and substituting the number "4".

17. Subsection 304(1) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number and word "6 months" and substituting the number

and word "4 months".

Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer