Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum
Division 5
Incarcerated Electors
Definition of "elector"
244. For the purpose of this Division, "elector"
means an incarcerated elector.
Entitlement
to vote
245. (1) Every person who is incarcerated
and who is otherwise qualified to vote under
this Act is entitled to vote under this Division
on the 10th day before polling day.
Exercise of right
to vote
(2) An elector is not entitled to vote under
this Division unless he or she has signed an
application for registration and special ballot
under section 251 and a declaration described
in section 257.
Vote to be in
electoral district
(3) An elector is entitled to vote under this
Division only in respect of the electoral district
in which his or her place of ordinary residence
is situated as shown on the application for registration
and special ballot made by the elector
under section 251.
Designation of
coordinating
officers
246. The ministers responsible for corrections
in the provinces shall each designate a person
as a coordinating officer to work, during and
between referendums with the Chief Electoral
Officer to carry out the purposes and provisions
of this Division.
Notification of
issue of the writs
247. (1) Without delay after the issue of the
writs, the Chief Electoral Officer shall inform
the minister responsible for corrections in a
province of their issue and of the location of
administrative centres.
Designation of
liaison officers
(2) On being informed of the issue of the
writs, each minister responsible for corrections
in a province shall
(a) inform the coordinating officer for that
province of the issue of the writs;
(b) designate one or more persons to act as
liaison officers in connection with the taking
of the votes of electors; and
(c) inform the Chief Electoral Officer and the
coordinating officer for that province of the
name and address of each liaison officer.
Liaison officers
248. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall
appoint persons designated under paragraph
247(2)(b) in the prescribed form.
Duty to
cooperate
(2) During the referendum period, a liaison
officer shall cooperate with the Chief Electoral
Officer in the administration of the registration
and the taking of the votes of electors.
Duty of
coordinating
officer
249. When a coordinating officer is informed
that a liaison officer has been designated, the
coordinating officer shall give the liaison officer
all necessary information on taking the votes of
electors.
Notice of
entitlement
to vote
250. (1) A liaison officer shall, without delay
after being appointed, post a notice in the prescribed
form in a prominent place in the correctional
institution that informs electors of the
date on which they are entitled to vote in accordance
with this Division.
Voting hours
(2) The polling stations shall be open on the
10th day before polling day from 9:00 a.m. and
shall be kept open until every elector who is
registered under subsection 251(1) has voted,
but in no case shall they be kept open later than
8:00 p.m. on that day.
Application for
registration and
special ballot
251. (1) Before the 10th day before polling
day, each liaison officer shall ensure that an
application for registration and special ballot
in the prescribed form is completed for every
eligible elector of the correctional institution
who wishes to vote, indicating his or her place
of ordinary residence as determined under
subsection (2).
Residence of
elector
(2) The place of ordinary residence of an
elector is the first of the following places for
which the elector knows the civic and mailing
addresses:
(a) his or her residence before being incarcerated;
(b) the residence of the spouse, the common-law partner, a relative or a dependant of the elector, a relative of his or her spouse or
common-law partner or a person with whom the elector would live but for his or her incarceration;
(c) the place of his or her arrest; or
(d) the last court where the elector was convicted
and sentenced.
Optional
information
(3) In addition to providing his or her place of
ordinary residence, the Chief Electoral Officer
may request that the elector provide other information
that the Chief Electoral Officer considers
necessary to implement agreements made
under section 55 of the Canada Elections Act,
but the elector is not required to provide that
information.
Validation
(4) The liaison officer shall validate the application
for registration and special ballot by signing
it and indicating on it the name of the electoral
district that includes the place of ordinary residence
as determined under subsection (2).
Dispute about
electoral district
(5) If a dispute arises as to in which electoral
district an elector may vote, the elector may
refer the matter to the returning officer for the
electoral district where the correctional institution
is located, and the returning officer shall
make a final determination in accordance with
the process for revising lists of electors.
List of
incarcerated
electors
252. Applications for registration and special
ballot are deemed to be the list of electors who
vote under this Division.
Appointment of
deputy returning
officers and poll
clerks
253. (1) Before the 18th day before polling
day, each returning officer shall, for each correctional
institution in his or her electoral district,
in consultation with the liaison officer for
the institution, establish one or more polling
stations and appoint a deputy returning officer
and a poll clerk for each polling station.
Provision of
referendum
materials
(2) A liaison officer shall, on receiving the
referendum materials and the text of any referendum
question,
(a) provide the materials in sufficient quantities
to the deputy returning officers appointed
under subsection (1) for the correctional
institution; and
(b) post the text of any referendum question
in one or more conspicuous places in the correctional
institution.
Duties of deputy
returning officer
254. On the day on which the electors cast
their ballots, the deputy returning officer shall,
at each polling station,
(a) post two or more copies of the voting
instructions, in the prescribed form, in conspicuous
places; and
(b) keep readily available for consultation
by electors a copy of this Part, a set of street
indexes, and a guide to electoral districts.
Mobile polling
stations
255. (1) A liaison officer shall, when required,
establish a mobile polling station within a correctional
institution to take the votes of the
electors who are confined to their cells or in an
infirmary.
Common mobile
polling stations
(2) A returning officer may, in cooperation
with liaison officers, create a mobile polling
station for correctional institutions of fewer
than 50 electors that are within the returning
officer's electoral district and that are within
reasonable travelling distance of each other.
256. Not applicable.
Declaration of
elector
257. (1) Before delivering a special ballot
to an elector, the deputy returning officer for a
correctional institution shall require the elector
to complete an application for registration
and special ballot, if the elector has not already
done so, and to make and sign the declaration
on the outer envelope.
Giving special
ballot to elector
(2) After the elector has signed the declaration
on the outer envelope, the deputy returning
officer shall
(a) sign the outer envelope; and
(b) give the elector a special ballot, an inner
envelope and the outer envelope.
Voting by
special ballot
258. (1) The elector shall vote by marking a
cross or other mark in the circular space provided
opposite the word "yes" or "no" on the
special ballot, folding the special ballot and, in
the presence of the deputy returning officer,
(a) placing the ballot in the inner envelope
and sealing the envelope; and
(b) placing the inner envelope in the outer
envelope and sealing the outer envelope.
(2) Not applicable.
Spoiled special
ballot
(3) If an elector has inadvertently handled
a special ballot in such a manner that it cannot
be used, the elector shall return it to the deputy
returning officer who shall mark it as a spoiled
ballot and give the elector another special ballot.
Limit
(4) An elector shall not be given more than
one special ballot under subsection (3).
Assistance
259. (1) If an elector is unable to read or
because of a physical disability is unable to
vote under this Division, the deputy returning
officer shall assist the elector by
(a) completing the declaration on the outer
envelope and writing the elector's name
where his or her signature is to be written;
and
(b) marking the special ballot as directed by
the elector in his or her presence and in the
presence of the poll clerk.
Note on outer
envelope
(2) The deputy returning officer and the poll
clerk shall sign a note on the outer envelope
indicating that the elector was assisted.
Delivery of
documents after
the vote
260. Without delay after the votes have been
cast at a correctional institution, the deputy
returning officer shall deliver to the liaison officer
for the institution
(a) the outer envelopes that contain the
marked special ballots;
(b) any unused or spoiled outer envelopes;
(c) any unused or spoiled special ballots and
unused inner envelopes; and
(d) the applications for registration and special
ballot.
Deadline
for return of
referendum
material
261. Every liaison officer shall ensure that the
referendum material referred to in section 260
is received by the special voting rules administrator
in Ottawa no later than 6:00 p.m. on
polling day.
Integration
into final list
of electors
262. The applications for registration and
special ballot shall be integrated into the final
list of electors referred to in section 109.
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