Bill C-83

If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.

First Reading

PDF

	(e) a person who has served in Parliament in the session immediately before the election or in the session in progress at the time of the election; and
	(f) a person who, within seven years before the proposed appointment, has been found guilty of any offence under this Act, the Referendum Act or any Act of the legislature of a province relating to provincial, municipal or school board elections.
Qualifica- tions	(4) An election officer must be qualified as an elector under section 3 and an election officer referred to in any of paragraphs (1)(a), (b), (d) to (g) and (j) must reside in the electoral district in which he or she is to perform duties under this Act.
Exception	(5) In the case of an appointment that is to be made by a returning officer, if he or she is unable to appoint an election officer who meets the requirements set out in subsection (4), he or she may, with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, appoint
	(a) a Canadian citizen who is 16 years of age or older and who resides in the electoral district; or
	(b) a person who is qualified as an elector but does not live in the electoral district.
Prohibition - acting as election officer	(6) No person shall act as an election officer knowing that they do not meet the requirements for an election officer set out in this section.
Oath	23. (1) Before assuming duties, an election officer shall swear an oath in writing, in the prescribed form, to perform the duties of the office in an impartial manner.
Prohibition	(2) No election officer shall communicate information obtained in the course of performing their duties under this Act, other than for a purpose related to the performance of those duties.
Sending of oaths	(3) The returning officer shall send the documents containing the oaths of the returning officer and assistant returning officer without delay to the Chief Electoral Officer.
	Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers
Appointment of returning officers	24. (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint a returning officer for each electoral district and may only remove him or her for cause under subsection (7).
Responsibi- lity of returning officer	(2) A returning officer is responsible, under the general direction of the Chief Electoral Officer, for the preparation for and conduct of an election in his or her electoral district.
Obligation to act to enable elections to be held	(3) Every returning officer to whom a writ is directed shall, on its receipt, or on notification by the Chief Electoral Officer of its issue, cause to be promptly taken any of the proceedings directed by this Act that are necessary in order that the election may be regularly held.
Vacancy	(4) The office of a returning officer is not vacant unless the returning officer dies, resigns, ceases to reside in the electoral district or is removed from office or the boundaries of their electoral district are revised as a result of a representation order made under section 24 of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.
Resignation	(5) A returning officer who intends to resign shall give written notice to that effect to the Chief Electoral Officer and the resignation is effective only when it is accepted by the Chief Electoral Officer.
No partisan conduct	(6) No returning officer shall, while in office, knowingly engage in politically partisan conduct and in particular shall not make a contribution to a candidate or belong to or make a contribution to, be an employee of or hold a position in, a registered party or an eligible party.
Removal from office	(7) The Governor in Council may remove from office any returning officer who
	(a) is incapable, by reason of illness, physical or mental disability or otherwise, of satisfactorily performing his or her duties under this Act;
	(b) fails to discharge competently a duty of a returning officer under this Act or to comply with an instruction of the Chief Electoral Officer described in paragraph 16(c);
	(c) fails to complete the revision of the boundaries of the polling divisions in their electoral district as instructed by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 538(3); or
	(d) contravenes subsection (6), whether or not the contravention occurs in the exercise of his or her duties under this Act.
List in Canada Gazette	25. The name, address and occupation of each person appointed as a returning officer and the name of the electoral district for which he or she is appointed shall be communicated as soon as practicable to the Chief Electoral Officer. Between the 1st and 20th days of January in each year, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish a list in the Canada Gazette of the name, address and occupation of the returning officer for each electoral district in Canada.
Assistant returning officer	26. (1) A returning officer shall, without delay after being appointed,
	(a) appoint in writing an assistant returning officer, who shall hold office at pleasure; and
	(b) send the appointment in writing to the Chief Electoral Officer.
Restriction on appointment	(2) A returning officer shall not appoint his or her mother, father, child, stepchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister or a person who lives with him or her, as an assistant returning officer.
Authoriza- tion	27. (1) The returning officer for an electoral district may, with the prior approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, authorize any person acting under his or her direction to perform any of the functions of a returning officer under this Act, except those described in subsection 24(3), sections 57, 62, 63 and 67, subsections 71(1) and 72(1), sections 74, 77, 103, 104, 130, 293 to 298 and 300, subsection 301(6) and sections 313 to 316.
Authoriza- tion in writing	(2) An authorization under subsection (1) shall be signed and dated by the returning officer.
Notification if returning officer incapacitated	28. (1) It is the duty of a returning officer or an assistant returning officer to notify the Chief Electoral Officer without delay if the returning officer at any time becomes unable to act.
Communica- tion of notifications	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall communicate any notification received under subsection (1) to the Minister.
Assistant returning officer to act	(3) If a returning officer becomes unable to act, the assistant returning officer shall act until the appointment of a new returning officer or until the returning officer becomes able to act.
Appointment within limited period	(4) Within 60 days after the date on which the Chief Electoral Officer has been notified of a vacancy in the office of a returning officer or accepts the resignation of a returning officer, the Governor in Council shall appoint a new returning officer.
Appointment of assistant returning officer	(5) Every assistant returning officer who is required to act as a returning officer under subsection (3) shall appoint an assistant returning officer without delay.
Duties of returning officer	29. (1) A returning officer shall
	(a) without delay after removing an assistant returning officer from office, notify the assistant returning officer in writing of the removal and send a copy of the notice to the Chief Electoral Officer; and
	(b) without delay after the death or resignation of an assistant returning officer, notify the Chief Electoral Officer in writing of the death or resignation.
Appointment of substitute	(2) If an assistant returning officer dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or incapable of acting or refuses to act, or is removed from office for any other reason, the returning officer who appointed him or her shall without delay appoint a substitute.
Tenure of office of assistant returning officer	(3) When a returning officer ceases to hold office, the assistant returning officer appointed by him or her remains in office until the returning officer's successor appoints a new assistant returning officer.
Resignation by assistant returning officer	(4) An assistant returning officer who intends to resign shall give written notice to the returning officer who appointed him or her or, if the office of returning officer is vacant, to the Chief Electoral Officer.
Additional assistant returning officer	30. (1) On request by a returning officer, the Chief Electoral Officer may designate areas in the returning officer's electoral district and authorize, in writing, the appointment of an assistant returning officer, in addition to the assistant returning officer appointed under subsection 26(1), for each of those areas.
Appointment	(2) A returning officer shall appoint an additional assistant returning officer and establish an office in each area designated by the Chief Electoral Officer.
Delegation limited	(3) An assistant returning officer appointed under subsection (2) may perform the functions of an assistant returning officer only in respect of the area for which they are appointed.
Further limitation	(4) An assistant returning officer appointed under subsection (2) may not perform the functions described in subsections 28(1), 60(2), 70(1) and 293(1).
Prohibition - acting in another capacity	31. No returning officer or assistant returning officer appointed under subsection 26(1) shall act in any other capacity under this Act.
	Election Officers Appointed by Returning Officer
	General
Election officers	32. After the issue of the writ, a returning officer shall appoint the following election officers in the prescribed form:
	(a) the revising agents that the returning officer considers necessary, provided that the Chief Electoral Officer approves of their number;
	(b) one deputy returning officer and one poll clerk for each advance polling station in the electoral district;
	(c) one deputy returning officer and one poll clerk for each polling station in the electoral district; and
	(d) a registration officer for each registration office.
	Revising Agents
Solicitation of names	33. (1) Before appointing revising agents, a returning officer shall solicit names of suitable persons from the registered parties whose candidates finished first and second in the last election in the electoral district and, if sufficient names are not provided by those parties within three days after receipt of the request, the returning officer may solicit names from any other source.
Equal distribution	(2) A returning officer shall appoint half of the revising agents from among the persons recommended by the registered party whose candidate finished first in the last election in the electoral district, and half from among the persons recommended by the registered party whose candidate finished second in that election.
Revising agents to work in pairs	(3) A returning officer shall appoint revising agents to work in pairs and each pair shall consist, as far as possible, of persons recommended by different registered parties.
Replacement	(4) A returning officer may replace a revising agent at any time by appointing another revising agent, and the former revising agent shall return all election materials in his or her possession to the returning officer.
Lists of revising agents	(5) Each returning officer shall make available to each candidate a list of the revising agents for the electoral district, on completion of the list.
Identification	(6) Each revising agent shall, while performing his or her functions, wear or carry the identification that is supplied by the Chief Electoral Officer and shall show it on request.
	Deputy Returning Officers and Poll Clerks
Deputy returning officers	34. (1) Each deputy returning officer referred to in paragraph 32(b) or (c) shall be appointed from lists of names of suitable persons provided by the candidate of the registered party whose candidate finished first in the electoral district in the last election.
Replacing deputies	(2) A returning officer may, at any time, remove a deputy returning officer.
Poll clerks	35. (1) Each poll clerk referred to in paragraph 32(b) or (c) shall be appointed from lists of names of suitable persons provided by the candidate of the registered party whose candidate finished second in the electoral district in the last election.
Replacing poll clerks	(2) A returning officer may, at any time, remove a poll clerk.
Appointment	36. A returning officer shall proceed to appoint deputy returning officers and poll clerks from other sources if the candidates have not, by the 17th day before polling day, made their recommendations or have not recommended a sufficient number of suitable persons.
Refusal to appoint deputy returning officer	37. (1) A returning officer may, on reasonable grounds, refuse to appoint a deputy returning officer or a poll clerk recommended by a candidate and shall immediately advise the candidate of the refusal.
Recommen- dation of another person	(2) The candidate may, within 24 hours after being advised of the refusal, recommend another person and, if he or she does not do so, the returning officer shall proceed to appoint another person whose name is solicited from another source.
Replacement for deputy returning officer	38. (1) When the office of deputy returning officer is vacant or if the deputy returning officer is unable or unwilling to act, and the returning officer has not appointed a replacement, the poll clerk shall act as deputy returning officer without taking another oath.
Another poll clerk appointed	(2) When a poll clerk acts as deputy returning officer, the poll clerk shall, in the prescribed form, appoint a person to act as poll clerk.
	Registration Officers
Registration offices	39. (1) The returning officer shall establish one or more registration offices in accordance with the instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.
Appointment of registration officers	(2) The returning officer shall appoint, for each registration office, a registration officer to receive, on polling day, the applications for registration of electors whose names are not on the list of electors.
Solicitation of names	(3) Before appointing registration officers, the returning officer shall solicit names of suitable persons from the candidates of the registered parties whose candidates finished first and second in the last election in the electoral district, to be submitted to the returning officer no later than the 17th day before polling day. If, by that time, a sufficient number of names of suitable persons are not provided by those candidates, the returning officer may solicit names from other sources.
Equal distribution	(4) The returning officer shall, as far as possible, appoint half of the registration officers from among the persons recommended by the candidate of the registered party whose candidate finished first in the last election in the electoral district, and half from among the persons recommended by the candidate of the registered party whose candidate finished second in that election.

Bill C-83

Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers

Election Officers Appointed by Returning Officer