Policy on Extended In-Person Voting Services – Regulatory Policy Instruments

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Last updated: February 13, 2024

1. Effective date

This policy was approved by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on February 13, 2024, and takes effect on March 22, 2024.

2. Purpose

The Canada Elections Act (the Act) gives the CEO the authority to exercise general direction and supervision over the conduct of federal elections, including the administration of voting services to electors and provides that the CEO is to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions that are necessary for the administration of the Act. The CEO does so in alignment with the principles of electoral integrity articulated in the Electoral Integrity Framework: accessibility, fairness, independence, reliability, security and transparency.

Returning Officers (ROs) are responsible, within their electoral district (ED), for ensuring that the requirements of the Act and instructions, issued by the CEO, are implemented in a manner as to allow electors, including those who may face substantial access barriers, to exercise their right to vote during a federal election.

The purpose of this policy is to guide the interpretation and operationalization of the Act in offering extended in-person voting services, as described below. These services go beyond standard in-person voting services prescribed by the Act and Elections Canada therefore strives to provide transparency about why and when ROs, as per the instructions of the CEO, offer extended in person voting services and how decisions are aligned with the Act. This policy is also intended to guide Elections Canada in considering requests for new forms of extended voting opportunities by providing a framework to balance competing considerations.

3. Application

Elections Canada offers various voting opportunities which include standard in-person voting services, extended in-person voting services, and the opportunity to vote by mail or otherwise by special ballot. This policy applies to extended in-person voting services offered to electors during elections. Extended in-person voting services are offered to some groups of Canadians that, based on Elections Canada's research and experience, may have difficulty being able to cast their ballot using other existing voting services. Elections Canada current extended voting services offering includes:

• Voting services for electors who temporarily reside in remote work settings;
• Voting services for electors who are temporarily hospitalized (acute care hospitals) or who reside in healthcare settings (long-term care homes);
• On-campus voting;
• Voting services for indigenous communities for which a standard in-person voting service cannot be offered.

Voting services offered in response to rare and limited circumstances, where electors have had their opportunity to exercise their right to vote significantly impacted or eliminated by an event or incident, are not included in this policy, but rather in the Policy on Replacement Voting Services.

4. Objective

Elections Canada administers extended in-person voting services within the legal framework provided by the Act and according to the principles of electoral integrity, in a way that allows electors, political entities, and the general public to understand the context for decisions made when offering extended in-person voting services so that electors can exercise their democratic rights to vote.

The policy explains how Elections Canada establishes a balance between competing considerations when choosing to offer extended in-person voting services, in accordance with the Electoral Integrity Framework. These considerations, include legal requirements and operational constraints, which impact the delivery of extended in-person voting services and are explained further in the directives associated with this policy.

5. Context

Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency that reports directly to Parliament. Its mission is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their democratic rights to vote and be a candidate. Elections Canada must always be prepared to conduct a federal election in compliance with the Act.

CEO discretion

While the Act clearly sets out requirements regarding Elections Canada's administration of voting services, it also gives authority to the CEO to exercise a degree of discretion in providing extended services to electors. This discretion, as well as the ability to issue instructions to election officers, are applied to determine where and when to offer those additional in-person voting services. These instructions provide requirements and guidance for the ROs to follow in performing their duties and resolving competing considerations and challenges that may arise when establishing extended in-person voting services. These instructions are aligned with the Electoral Integrity Framework, this policy, and its associated directives, especially when they relate to matters not prescribed in the Act.

Operational considerations

Extended in-person voting services are provided, to some groups of electors, in addition to the existing standard in-person voting services at polling locations and in RO and Assistant Additional Returning Officers (AARO) offices. These extended services are provided in alignment with Elections Canada's mandate to provide voting opportunities to all Canadians, while recognizing its finite capacities as well as the other voting services already offered to electors.

Over time, Elections Canada has developed a set of extended in-person voting services for certain groups of electors based on demand, research, and the capacity of the agency. During the decisional process related to the offer of extended in-person voting services, Elections Canada considers the barriers faced by groups of electors which may prevent them from accessing standard in-person voting services at advance polls, ordinary polls, in ROs and AAROs offices; and aims to provide opportunities that reduce the negative impacts on these electors.

Elections Canada also considers whether the groups in question are geographically concentrated in some way to ensure the efficient use of resources. ^{note 1} For instance, during general elections, Elections Canada has long provided electors temporarily residing in remote work camps with alternative voting opportunities, if the distance to standard voting services is significant and multiple electors in a common remote location will be impacted.

The role of Returning Officers

As part of their mandate of conducting an election in an ED, ROs are required to take the steps to ensure electors are provided with standard in-person voting services. ROs also need to consider and prepare extended in-person voting services as established by Elections Canada. ROs implement the instructions received based on their resources and with support from Elections Canada Headquarters, to ensure consistent delivery of in-person voting services, whether they are standards or extended, across all EDs.

In fulfilling their mandate, ROs are also regularly faced with unique local challenges and operational constraints which may lead to difficulty in delivering extended in-person voting services. A recurring challenge ROs face is the dependence on external partners such as educational and healthcare institutions, whose capacity and willingness to work with Elections Canada can vary. The lack of a fixed date for many elections and the tight timelines once an election is called can make on-campus voting and voting in healthcare institutions even more challenging to organize.

6. Policy statement and guiding principles

Consistent with its mandate under the Act and in alignment with the Electoral Integrity Framework, Elections Canada upholds electoral integrity and contributes to preserving trust in the electoral process by administering all voting services in an accessible, fair, independent, reliable, secure, and transparent manner. Elections Canada strives to strike a balance between these six principles which together guide the decisions concerning voting services.

The relevancy of each principle depends on the context of a situation. In certain situations, one of these principles may be more relevant, while in other, multiple principles may be. Specific examples and descriptions of how the principles are balanced against one another are provided in the directives associated with this policy.

The following statements explain the principles that guide the Policy on Extended In-Person Voting Services and the directives associated with it:

6.1 Accessibility

Elections Canada strives to ensure that all Canadians have an opportunity to safely vote with dignity and independence.

Elections Canada recognizes that some electors face difficulty in accessing standard in-person voting services and strives, where feasible, to establish extended in-person voting services and communicate reliable information about how to access these services.

Elections Canada aims to provide extended in-person voting services in a manner that is inclusive and allows for the concerned groups of electors to exercise their right to vote.

6.2 Fairness

Elections Canada considers requests or proposals for extended in-person voting services in a fair and impartial way that ensures that candidates and political parties are treated equitably.

Elections Canada develops and administers extended in-person voting services in a fair and impartial manner.

6.3 Independence

Elections Canada decides if, how, and when extended in-person voting services are provided; independently from the government, political entities and other partisan influences and by basing its decisions on the mandate of the agency, the Act, and the principles of electoral integrity.

6.4 Reliability

Elections Canada recognizes that processes related to extended in-person voting services must be understood and well publicized so that they may be delivered predictably and consistently.

Elections Canada provides instructions to ROs to ensure that extended in-person voting services are administered in a predictable and consistent manner, while considering local ED-level factors.

Elections Canada seeks and considers feedback from electors and political participants to improve extended in-person voting services.

Elections Canada adheres to the sound management of human, financial and material resources to deliver extended in-person voting services effectively and efficiently.

6.5 Security

In determining whether an extended in-person voting service is to be offered, Elections Canada considers whether such a service can be offered in a way that maintains the security of the vote.

Elections Canada ensures that the appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent, detect, and mitigate threats to the security of such services.

Elections Canada develops extended in-person voting services in a manner that maintains the secrecy of the vote.

6.6 Transparency

Elections Canada communicates why extended in-person voting opportunities will be offered, using directives and other communication products.

Extended in-person voting services are administered in a manner that is observable, for candidates and their representatives, and features oversight.

7. Roles and responsibilities

For all roles and responsibilities related to Elections Canada's regulatory policy instruments, please refer to Regulatory Policy Development and Management.

8. Monitoring, evaluation and review

This policy will be reviewed and updated upon the request of the CEO, who may be advised in this regard by the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer - Electoral Events and Innovation and/or Deputy Chief Electoral Officer - Regulatory Affairs. A proactive evaluation of all policy instruments will also be conducted following all general elections, so that operational changes can be reflected in the relevant instruments.

9. Inquiries

Address any questions about this policy to: politiqueregulatoire-regulatorypolicy@elections.ca.

Footnote

Return to note ¹ In some situations where electors are not concentrated in a given location but are completely isolated, such as lighthouse workers, extended in-person voting services might be provided if there is no other ways to serve these electors.