Bill C-83

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First Reading

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	Equality of Votes
List of names to be provided	40. The registered parties that have the right to provide the returning officer with lists of names of suitable persons to be appointed as election officers for the purposes of a by-election under subsection 29(1.1) of the Parliament of Canada Act because of an equality of votes are the same registered parties as those who had that right for the purposes of the election that resulted in the equality of votes.
	New Electoral Districts
Results transposed	41. (1) When a new electoral district is established, the Chief Electoral Officer shall transpose the results from the previous general election to the polling divisions that are in the new electoral district in order to determine which registered parties' candidates have the right to provide the returning officer with lists of persons to be appointed as election officers.
Special case	(2) If the Chief Electoral Officer cannot transpose the results from the previous general election to a portion of the new electoral district because no candidate was returned in respect of that portion due to an equality of votes, the Chief Electoral Officer shall transpose the results from the by-election that was subsequently held under subsection 29(1.1) of the Parliament of Canada Act in respect of that portion.
Exception	(3) If, in a case to which subsection (2) applies, a general election is held before the by-election, the registered parties that have the right to provide the returning officer with lists of names of suitable persons to be appointed as election officers in respect of that general election are the same registered parties as those who had that right for the purposes of the election that resulted in the equality of votes.
Notice to parties	(4) When the Chief Electoral Officer has determined which parties have the right to provide lists of names under subsection (1), (2) or (3), as the case may be, he or she shall notify the parties without delay of that right.
	Merger of Registered Parties
Attribution of votes for appointments	42. For the purposes of subsections 33(1) and (2) and 34(1), section 35, subsections 39(3) and (4) and section 41, 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 two or more parties that were registered parties at that 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 election.
	Prohibitions
Prohibitions	43. No person shall
	(a) wilfully obstruct an election officer in the performance of his or her duties under this Act;
	(b) without authority, use identification intended to be used by a revising agent or intended to replace or simulate the identification prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer for that purpose; or
	(c) having been replaced as an election officer, fail to give to their replacement or to an authorized person any election documents or other election materials that the person has received or prepared in the performance of their duties.
	PART 4
	REGISTER OF ELECTORS
	Maintenance and Communication of Register
Register of Electors	44. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall maintain a register of Canadians who are qualified as electors, to be known as the Register of Electors.
Contents of Register	(2) The Register of Electors shall contain, for each elector who is included in it, his or her surname, given names, sex, date of birth, civic address, mailing address and any other information that is provided under subsections 49(2), 194(7), 195(3), 223(2), 233(2) and 251(3).
Inclusion optional	(3) Inclusion in the Register of Electors is at the option of the elector.
Members and registered parties	45. (1) By October 15 in each year, the Chief Electoral Officer shall, in respect of each electoral district, send an electronic copy of the lists of electors, taken from the Register of Electors, to the elected member and, on request, to each registered party that endorsed a candidate in that electoral district in the last election.
Contents of lists of electors	(2) The lists of electors shall set out, for each elector, his or her surname, given names, civic address and mailing address, and shall be arranged in the form established by the Chief Electoral Officer according to the civic addresses of the electors, or if that is not appropriate, in alphabetical order by their surnames.
Exception	(3) This section does not apply if October 15 falls during an election period or if the vote at a general election was held during the three months before that date.
Merger of parties	(4) For the purpose of subsection (1), a registered party that is the result of a merger of two or more parties that were registered parties at the last election will be deemed to have endorsed a candidate in the last election if either of the merging parties so endorsed a candidate.
	Updating the Register
Sources of information	46. (1) The Register of Electors shall be updated from
	(a) information
	(i) that electors have given the Chief Electoral Officer, or
	(ii) that is held by a federal department or body and that electors have expressly authorized to be given to the Chief Electoral Officer; and
	(b) information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers reliable and necessary for updating the surname, given names, sex, date of birth, civic address and mailing address of electors included in the Register of Electors and that
	(i) is held under an Act of the legislature of a province mentioned in Schedule 2, or
	(ii) comes from any other source mentioned in Schedule 2.
Amendments to Schedule 2	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may at any time amend Schedule 2 by adding, changing or deleting the name of an Act of the legislature of a province or of any other source of information, but no such amendment comes into force until notice of it is published in the Canada Gazette.
Duty of returning officer	47. During the election period, each returning officer shall update the Register of Electors from the information that the officer obtains under this Act.
New electors	48. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, before including a new elector in the Register of Electors, send the elector the Chief Electoral Officer's information relating to him or her and ask if he or she wishes to be included in the Register of Electors.
Obligation of elector	(2) A new elector who wishes to be included in the Register of Electors shall confirm, correct or complete the information, in writing, and give it to the Chief Electoral Officer along with a signed certification that the elector has Canadian citizenship.
Exceptions	(3) This section does not apply in respect of the inclusion of a new elector
	(a) at the elector's request under subsection 49(1); or
	(b) based on lists of electors established under provincial law, to the extent that those lists contain the surname, given names, sex, date of birth, civic address and mailing address of each elector.
Listing requests	49. (1) Any person may at any time request the Chief Electoral Officer to include him or her in the Register of Electors, by providing
	(a) a signed certification that he or she is qualified as an elector;
	(b) his or her surname, given names, sex, date of birth, civic address and mailing address; and
	(c) satisfactory proof of identity.
Optional information	(2) In addition to the information referred to in subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer may invite the elector to give any other information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to implement any agreements entered into under section 55, but the elector is not required to do so.
Corrections	50. An elector may give the Chief Electoral Officer changes to the information in the Register of Electors relating to the elector, and the Chief Electoral Officer shall make the necessary corrections to the Register of Electors.
Verification	51. The Chief Electoral Officer may at any time
	(a) contact an elector to verify the Chief Electoral Officer's information relating to him or her; and
	(b) request the elector to confirm, correct or complete the information within 60 days after receiving the request.
Deletion of names	52. The Chief Electoral Officer may delete from the Register of Electors the name of any person who
	(a) is dead;
	(b) is not an elector;
	(c) requests in writing to have his or her name deleted; or
	(d) fails to comply with a request referred to in paragraph 51(b) within the 60 days.
Restrictions	53. If an elector so requests the Chief Electoral Officer in writing, information in the Register of Electors relating to that elector shall be used only for federal electoral or referendum purposes.
Access to personal information	54. At the written request of an elector, the Chief Electoral Officer shall send the elector all the information in the Chief Electoral Officer's possession relating to him or her.
	Agreements on Giving Information
Provincial bodies	55. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may enter into an agreement with any body responsible under provincial law for establishing a list of electors, governing the giving of information contained in the Register of Electors if that information is needed for establishing such a list.
Conditions	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may, for the purpose of ensuring the protection of personal information given under an agreement mentioned in subsection (1), include in the agreement any conditions that the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate regarding the use that may be made of that information.
Restriction on use of information	(3) A body to whom information is given under an agreement mentioned in subsection (1) may use the information only for the purpose of establishing lists of electors for an election or a referendum held under a provincial law.
Valuable consideration	(4) An agreement mentioned in subsection (1) may require valuable consideration to be provided in exchange for the information given.
	Prohibitions
Prohibitions	56. No person shall
	(a) knowingly make a false or misleading statement, orally or in writing, relating to their qualification as an elector or relating to any other information referred to in section 49;
	(b) knowingly make a false or misleading statement, orally or in writing, relating to another person's qualification as an elector, surname, given names, sex, civic address or mailing address for the purpose of having that person's name deleted from the Register of Electors;
	(c) request the listing in the Register of Electors of the name of a person who is not qualified as an elector, knowing that the person is not so qualified;
	(d) wilfully apply to have included in the Register of Electors the name of an animal or thing; or
	(e) knowingly use personal information that is recorded in the Register of Electors for a purpose other than
	(i) to enable Members of the House of Commons to communicate with their electors in accordance with section 110,
	(ii) a federal election or referendum, or
	(iii) an election or referendum held under provincial law, if the information is subject to, and transmitted in accordance with, an agreement made under section 55.
	PART 5
	CONDUCT OF AN ELECTION
	Writs of Election
Writs of election	57. (1) In order for an election to be held, the Governor in Council shall issue a proclamation that
	(a) directs the Chief Electoral Officer to issue a writ for each electoral district to which the proclamation applies;
	(b) fixes the date of issue of the writ; and
	(c) fixes the date for voting at the election, which date must be at least 36 days after the issue of the writ.
General election	(2) In the case of a general election,
	(a) the date of issue of the writ shall be the same for all electoral districts;
	(b) polling day shall be the same for all electoral districts; and
	(c) the proclamation shall fix a date by which the writ must be returned, which date shall be the same for all of the writs.
Election held on a Monday	(3) Subject to subsection (4), polling day shall be on a Monday.
Exception	(4) If, in the week in which the election is to be held, the Monday is a holiday, polling day shall be held on the Tuesday of that week.
Times when polling day is Tuesday	(5) If the day fixed for the vote is a Tuesday because of subsection (4), any time period specified under this Act before or after polling day is to be calculated as if polling day were the Monday.
Writs forwarded to returning officer	58. The Chief Electoral Officer shall issue a writ in Form 1 of Schedule 1 to the returning officer for the electoral district in which the election is to be held without delay after the proclamation is issued by the Governor in Council.
Withdrawal of writ	59. (1) The Governor in Council may order the withdrawal of a writ for any electoral district for which the Chief Electoral Officer certifies that by reason of a flood, fire or other disaster it is impracticable to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Duties of Chief Electoral Officer	(2) If the Governor in Council orders the withdrawal of a writ, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish a notice of the withdrawal in the Canada Gazette and issue a new writ ordering an election within three months after publication of the notice.
Polling day	(3) The day named in the new writ for polling day may not be later than three months after the issue of the new writ.
Returning officer to open and maintain an office	60. (1) Every returning officer shall, without delay after receiving the writ or notice by the Chief Electoral Officer of the issue of the writ, open an office in premises with level access in a convenient place in the electoral district and shall maintain the office throughout the election period.
Hours	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may fix the hours that the office of the returning officer must be open during an election and the minimum number of hours of compulsory attendance at that office by the returning officer and the assistant returning officer.
Appointment of staff	61. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may authorize returning officers to appoint the staff that they consider necessary for the purposes of this Act.