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Bill C-401

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1st Session, 37th Parliament,
49-50 Elizabeth II, 2001

House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-401

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (proxy voting)

2000, c. 9

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. Section 7 of the Canada Elections Act is replaced by the following:

Only one vote

7. No elector who has voted in his or her own right at an election may request a second ballot at that election, except where the requested ballot is to be used for the purpose of voting for and in place of another elector in accordance with section 157.4.

2. Section 127 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Manner of voting

127. An elector may

    (a) vote in person at a polling station on polling day;

    (a.1) have a proxy voter vote at a polling station on polling day for and in place of him or her in accordance with sections 157.1 to 157.7;

    (b) vote in person at an advance polling station during the period provided for the advance poll; or

    (c) vote by means of a special ballot issued in accordance with Part 11.

3. Subsection 135(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Who may be present at polling station

135. (1) The only persons who may be present at a polling station on polling day are

    (a) the deputy returning officer and the poll clerk;

    (b) the returning officer and his or her representatives;

    (c) the candidates;

    (d) two representatives of each candidate or, in their absence, two electors to represent each candidate;

    (e) an elector and a friend or relative who is helping him or her by virtue of subsection 155(1), only for the period necessary to enable the elector to vote;

    (e.1) an elector who is authorized under this Act to vote for and in place of another elector; and

    (f) any observer or member of the Chief Electoral Officer's staff whom he or she authorizes to be present.

4. Subsection 143(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Elector to declare name, etc.

143. (1) Each elector, on arriving at the polling station, shall give his or her name and address, or, in the case of an elector authorized under this Act to vote for and in place of another elector, the name and address of the elector for and in place of whom he or she is authorized to vote, to the deputy returning officer and the poll clerk, and on request to a representative of the candidate.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 157:

Proxy Voting

Appointment of proxy voters

157.1 Where an elector whose name appears on the list of electors for a polling division at an election is qualified to vote in the polling division at the election but does not meet the requirements for voting under part 11, including the requirement to apply for registration and special ballot within the period specified, and believes on reasonable grounds that he or she will be unable to vote in the polling division at the election during the hours for voting on polling day and on the days fixed for the advance poll and for the taking of votes in the office of the returning officer by reason of

    (a) the elector is absence from the polling division in the course of his or her employment as a fisherman, mariner, member of an aircrew, member of a forestry crew, member of a topographical survey crew, prospector or trapper,

    (b) the elector's is illness or physical incapacity, or

    (c) the elector's absence from the polling division while a full-time student duly registered at a recognized educational institution in Canada during an academic term,

the elector may, in the prescribed proxy form, appoint another elector whose name appears on that list of electors and who is qualified to vote in the polling division at the election to be his proxy voter to vote for and in place of him or her at the election.

Application for proxy certificate

157.2 (1) At any time prior to ten o'clock in the evening of the Friday immediately preceding polling day at an election, an elector who has appointed a proxy voter pursuant to section 157.1 or a proxy voter appointed pursuant to that section may apply in person for a proxy certificate to

    (a) the returning officer for the electoral district in which the elector is eligible to vote; or

    (b) where the elector is eligible to vote in an electoral district specified in Schedule 3, the returning officer or an assistant returning officer in that electoral district.

Issue of proxy certificate

(2) Where a returning officer or assistant returning officer referred to in subsection (1)

    (a) receives a completed appointment of a proxy voter in the proxy form prescribed pursuant to section 157.1 during an election prior to the expiration of the time for applying for a proxy certificate,

    (b) in the case of an elector referred to in paragraph 157.1(b), receives a medical certificate, completed by a legally qualified medical practitioner on letterhead of the practitioner showing his or her address and telephone number, certifying that the practitioner has personally seen the elector and that the elector is unable to vote at the election by reason of illness or physical incapacity,

    (c) in the case of an elector referred to in paragraph 157.1 (c), receives a statement completed by the registar of a recognized educational institution in Canada stating that the elector is a full-time student duly registered at that educational institution, and

    (d) is satisfied that

      (i) the elector is entitled to appoint a proxy voter under section 157.1,

      (ii) the names of the elector and proxy voter appear on the list of electors prepared during the election for the polling division in which the elector is qualified to vote,

      (iii) a proxy certificate has not been issued by him or her during the election to any other person to act as a proxy voter for the elector, and

      (iv) the proxy voter has not previously been appointed during the election to be a proxy voter for any other elector,

the returning officer or assistant returning officer shall, unless the proxy voter has already completed and signed the written consent set out, under his appointment, in the proxy form prescribed pursuant to section 157.1, require the proxy voter to complete and sign that consent and shall thereupon complete and issue a proxy certificate in triplicate in the prescribed form.

Distribution of proxy certificates

(3) On the completion of a proxy certificate pursuant to subsection (2), a returning officer or assistant returning officer shall

    (a) deliver the original copy of the certificate to the elector or proxy voter who has applied to him or her;

    (b) where possible, transmit a copy of the certificate to the deputy returning officer for the polling division in which the elector is qualified to vote; and

    (c) retain a copy of the certificate together with the appointment of the proxy voter.

Inspection

(4) An appointment of a proxy voter and a proxy certificate shall be open for public inspection in the office of the returning officer or assistant returning officer who issued the certificate at all reasonable times before ten o'clock in the evening of the Saturday immediately preceding polling day.

Cancellation of proxy certificates

157.3 (1) Where an elector

    (a) requests in writing, on a proxy certificate issued during an election in relation to that elector, that the certificate be cancelled, and

    (b) has the certificate returned to the returning officer or assistant returning officer who issued it, before ten o'clock in the evening of the Saturday immediately preceding polling day,

the returning officer or assistant returning officer shall cancel the certificate.

New proxy certificates

(2) Subject to subsection 157.2(1), where a proxy certificate has been returned to a returning officer or an assistant returning officer for cancellation, the elector to whom it relates may appoint another proxy voter, and thereupon the returning officer or assistant returning officer shall, subject to sections 157.1 and 157.2, complete and issue another proxy certificate.

Proxy voting

157.4 Where, on polling day, a proxy voter appointed in accordance with section 157.1 delivers, to the deputy returning officer for the polling division in which the proxy voter and the elector who appointed him or her are qualified to vote, a proxy certificate issued under section 157.2 or 157.3 and takes the oath set out under that certificate prescribed pursuant to subsection 157.2(2),

    (a) the proxy voter may thereupon, subject to any other provision of this Act, vote at the election for and in place of that elector;

    (b) the poll clerk shall enter on the list of electors opposite the elector's name, in addition to any other required entry, the fact that the elector voted by proxy and the name of the proxy voter; and

    (c) the deputy returning officer shall, in accordance with subsections 288(3) to (5) and subsection 290(1), send the proxy certificate to the returning officer.

Appointment under oath accepted as proxy certificate

157.5 (1) Where, in any polling division

    (a) located in an electoral district specified in Schedule 3, or

    (b) designated by the Chief Electoral Officer pursuant to subsection (2),

an elector who has appointed a proxy voter pursuant to section 157.1 and the proxy voter so appointed by him or her are unable, by reason of distance, to apply in person pursuant to subsection 157.2(1) for a proxy certificate, the deputy returning officer for the polling division in which the elector and proxy voter are qualified to vote may, for the purposes of section 157.4, accept an appointment under oath in the proxy form prescribed pursuant to section 157.1 in place of a proxy certificate.

Designation of polling divisions

(2) Where the Chief Electoral Officer is of the opinion that in any electoral district, other than an electoral district specified in Schedule 3, the distance of any polling division from the office of the returning officer for the electoral district is so great as to make it unreasonable to require an elector or a proxy voter to apply in person to the returning officer for a proxy certificate, the Chief Electoral Officer may designate the polling division for the purposes of subsection (1).

Proxy voter may vote in his or her own right

157.6 An elector who

    (a) has been appointed, in accordance with section 157.1, to be a proxy voter at an election, and

    (b) votes as a proxy voter at the election,

is, subject to any other provision of this Act, entitled to vote in his or her own right at the election.

Validity of proxy certificate

157.7 A proxy certificate issued and an appointment under oath made during an election under section 157.2, 157.3 or 157.4 are vallid only on polling day at that election.

Offences

157.8 Every person is guilty of an offence who, at an election,

    (a) appoints more than one proxy voter;

    (b) being ineligible to vote by proxy, fraudulently appoints a proxy voter;

    (c) having appointed a proxy voter and not having had the appointment cancelled in accordance with section 157.3, himself or herself votes;

    (d) applies to vote as a proxy voter for more than one elector;

    (e) not being qualified to vote in a polling division, completes and signs a written consent pursuant to section 157.2 whereby he or she consents to be a proxy voter for an elector in that polling division; or

    (f) except in accordance with sections 157.1 to 157.7, applies for a proxy certificate at an election.

6. Subsection 167(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Prohibitions re ballots, etc.

167. (1) No person shall

    (a) apply for a ballot in a name that is not his or her own, except where the ballot applied for is to be used for the purpose of voting for and in place of another elector in accordance with section 157.4;

    (b) use a forged ballot;

    (c) knowing that he or she is without authority under this Act to do so, provide a ballot to any person; or

    (d) knowing that he or she is without authority under this Act to do so, have a ballot in his or her possession.

7. Section 500 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

Punishment - offences requiring intent (dual procedure)

(5.1) Every person who is guilty of an offence under section 157.8 is liable

    (a) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both; or

    (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years, or to both.

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