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Returning Officers Post-Mortem Sessions 41st General Election

1 – Election readiness

In the first segment of the post-mortem sessions, we asked returning officers to talk to us about election readiness processes. Most ROs said that readiness went well. New assignments had been introduced in the field, and ROs said that the pre-event tasks were very successful in ensuring an adequate level of preparation (more specifically: self-training, SBC training, deployment, recruitment and GEO tasks). In the West, ROs mentioned that the RO / ARO meeting was greatly appreciated.

1.1 – Readiness and Pre-event tasks

Staffing

In terms of staffing related to election readiness, ROs mentioned that they would need their key staff to start earlier. They would like to be able to identify their central poll supervisors a few months prior to the election, and some ROs also suggest that a pre-event task may be defined to identify community relation officers with enough time for training. It has been asked in some regions, that Elections Canada put in place a pre-event task in order to reach out to aboriginal band leaders sooner. In the rural West region, ROs did mention that finding recruitment officers and the CRO for seniors went well.

Offices

ROs also believe that it would be beneficial for key staff to have access to the office one week prior to the election being called, in order to set it up. It was also noted that during the election readiness period, ROs need an easier way to transfer their documents to their office computers. A pre-event task would also be needed to determine the material requirements for AARO offices.

Accessibility

ROs feel that the pre-event tasks on accessibility should have been completed much earlier, and by the returning officers; they agreed that they were not ready in terms of accessibility, and that there were not enough hours allocated on EC’s part to visit the sites. As a suggestion, it was mentioned that EC should build on what Elections Ontario has done in terms of accessibility.

Geography

ROs suggest integrating the pre-event task on geography with the SITES task. They would also like the pre-event task on geography updated, as they feel there were many requests for changes to be made to the poll keys, but they were not done, and that in spite of the tasks, there were many splits and merges. ROs also suggest that the CRO-Seniors be included in the pre-event task for site identification.

Other Recommendation

Finally, ROs commented that certain pre-event tasks should be made ED specific, instead of having an “all or nothing” approach, as they do not always apply to all electoral districts. They also feel that they could have been better prepared for site identification, and they would like to have the SITES application available to them at all times. They request more flexibility to correct SITES if there are errors. As a pre-event task, ROs also mentioned that it would be important to contact school boards earlier, and that some changes to the Canada Elections Act may be required to give them access to schools when needed. They suggested that targeted revision be done every two years as a pre-event task, in order to keep the national register of electors (NROE) up-to-date. Finally, ROs would like to see more involvement of their AROs in the pre-event tasks.

1.2 – Opening the RO and AARO offices

When asked about the procedures for opening offices provided to them prior to the issue of the writ, ROs mentioned that five hours are not enough to find a returning office. EC should look into the possibility of a conditional lease, or allow ROs to sign the lease before the issue of the writ. They also requested that EC send them a landlord package that would include: the lease, terms of insurance, payment terms and accessibility requirements.

New EC lease

When asked specifically about the new lease, ROs had a lot of comments and recommendations. Among them, that it took too long to get approval from HQ for leases; that most landlords do not want to rent for 2-3 months and that they request a minimal payment of three months; and that the EC logo on the lease was a concern. They also mention that not all landlords wanted to sign the lease - they wanted to use their own; in circumstances where this is the case, the RO could use the EC lease as a schedule to the landlord version. Finally, ROs commented that errors in the lease caused some issues (for example the landlord is required to have liability insurance when it is supposed to be the tenant).

Accessibility clauses

Smaller sites are becoming less available and landlords do not want to accommodate accessibility needs; in one region, two ROs lost their preferred office due to accessibility clauses.

Insurance clause

Several ROs, mostly from electoral districts in Ontario, had to purchase insurance in their own name. Clauses regarding liability were confusing, and ROs request that EC be clearer on who covers what. ROs feel that they should not have to put their name on insurance, and that it should be headquarters signing the lease, or have the RO sign as an agent of EC.

Other problematic clauses in the lease:

Landlords are concerned about power and heating costs being sufficient; in a single region, nine ROs had to modify the sections regarding additional fees. Also, ROs would like landlords to receive a lump sum payment as this would avoid several calls from landlords.

Other suggestions

Finally, ROs made a few suggestions regarding lease issues. First, they need a minimum of 30 days to confirm offices, but having four months of readiness preparation would be ideal; for example, signing a lease in June for the October election. In one particular region, 30% of ROs use urban real estate agents already, ROs suggest that HQ approach commercial realtors to work on leases and insurance proof requirements to simplify and make leases more acceptable to landlords; in return they could get a finder’s fee. Finally, when it comes to readiness and the opening of the offices, ROs feel that they should have the opportunity to review all logistical tasks close to the issue of the writ; they would prefer combining the pre-event tasks for finding an office with accessibility; and they suggest that the automation coordinator (AC) do a small pre-event exercise.