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Survey of Election Officers Following the 42nd Federal General Election

11. Suggestions to Improve The Conduct Of Elections

This section reports on the suggestions that were provided by election officers on how to make it easier to work inside the polling station.

Making it Easier for Officers to Work Inside the Polling Station

When asked what the first thing to change would be to make it easier for election officers to do their work inside the polling station, three main themes emerged: improvement of materials and procedures – 21 %(3 label in Table 80), improvement of work conditions – 18% (1 label in Table 80), and improvement of training – 17% (2 label in Table 80). Outside of theme analysis, individually the top five suggestions were: better training (17%), less paperwork (8%), have breaks (6%), more staff/help (5%) and better facility/location/more space (5%). Compared with the 2011 results, a smaller proportion now feels that nothing needs to change (27% in 2011, compared with 8% in 2015). However, nearly a fifth (18%) did not provide a suggestion to make it easier to work inside the polling place.

Table 80: Changes to make it easier to work inside the polling place, by region
Q42: What would be the first thing to change, if anything, to make it easier for you to do your work inside the polling place? Region
ATL (n=346) QC (n=924) ON (n=1385) MAN (n=154) SASK (n=115) AB (n=39)* BC (n=423) TER (n=115) Overall (n=3503)
%
Better training 2 19 12 17 19 25 22 20 27 17
Less paperwork 3 7 13 5 7 2 9 5 7 8
Have breaks 1 5 5 7 3 4 7 6 2 6
More staff/help 1 5 2 6 4 10 9 9 7 5
Better facility / location / more space 1 3 6 5 8 0 8 4 0 5
Improve hiring process 4 3 5 3 6 3 5 0 4
It was great 6 2 3 1 1 1 3 7 3
Provide more/better information to the voters on the voting process 3 3 2 2 4 2 3 2 2 2
Improve voter identification 3 4 2 2 2 0 0 3 0 2
Improve process of closing polling station / more training on closing 3 1 2 3 1 0 4 2 3 2
Improve flowchart/signs 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 2 2
Took too long / too slow 3 1 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
Improve electors list / had many errors / wasn't up to date 3 2 2 1 3 3 1 1 0 1
Provide refreshments 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
Improve pay 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 5 1
Have stations set up beforehand 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1
More polling stations / more tables 3 0 0 1 0 1 2 2 0 1
Improve ballot counting 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
More accessibility for older/disabled people 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
None/Nothing 9 13 7 9 12 6 5 8 8
Other 11 8 12 12 10 9 14 6 11
DK/Refused 16 20 19 21 22 16 12 21 18

* Caution should be used when interpreting results due to small sample.

Information officers were significantly less likely than those in other positions to report "better training" as the first thing that needs to change (7%, compared with 17% overall). Comparatively, central poll supervisors were significantly more likely than those in other positions to report "better training" as the first thing that needs to change (30%). Central poll supervisors were also significantly less likely than those in other positions to report "have breaks" as the first thing that needs to change (0%, compared with 6% overall).

Deputy returning officers and poll clerks were significantly more likely to report "less paperwork" as the first thing that needs to change (9% and 8% respectively) compared with information officers and registration officers (4%, each).

Poll clerks (6%) were also significantly more likely than information officers (3%) and central poll supervisors (3%) to report "more staff/help" as the first thing that needs to change.

Further, deputy returning officers were also significantly less likely than information officers and central poll supervisors to report "better facility / location / more space" as the first thing that needs to change (3%, 10% and 7% respectively).

In regards to type of poll, election officers who worked in advance polls were more likely to report "have breaks" as the first thing that needs to change (11%) compared with the other poll types.

Table 81: Changes to make it easier to work inside the polling place, by type of poll and polling station, top 5 reasons
Q42: What would be the first thing to change, if anything, to make it easier for you to do your work inside the polling place? Type of Poll Staffing Position  
Adv.
(n=232) 		Ord. (n=2997) Adv. + ord. (n=224) Mobile (n=49)* DRO
(n=1261) 		IO
(n=421) 		CPS (n=245) RegO (n=315) PC (n=1261) Overall (n=3503)
%
Better training 19 17 17 12- 20+ 7- 30+ 14 16 17
Less paperwork 15+ 7 9 11+ 9 4 7 4 8 8
Have breaks 11+ 6 1 5 5 6 0 9 7 6
More staff/help 3 5 8 4 5 3 3 6 6 5
Better facility / location / more space 3 5 3 2- 3 10+ 7 6 4 5

* Caution should be used when interpreting results due to small sample.

From the sample of deputy returning officers, information officers, registration officers, and poll clerks, eighty-nine percent (TOP2: 89%) were satisfied with the quality of support they received from the central poll supervisor. Information officers (70%) and registration officers (75%) were significantly more likely to report being "very satisfied" than deputy returning officers (60%) and poll clerks (61%). Deputy returning officers and poll clerks were the most likely to report being not satisfied at all (4% and 3%, respectively) compared with information officers (1%) and registration officers (1%).

Table 82: Satisfaction with support from central poll supervisor, by staffing position
Q43: Generally speaking, how satisfied are you with the quality of support you received from the central poll supervisor? Are you...? Staffing Position
DRO (n=1261) IO (n=421) RegO (n=315) PC (n=1261) Overall (n=3258)
%
TOP2 87 92 95 88 89
BTM2 12 8 5 11 10
Very satisfied 60 70+ 75+ 61 63
Fairly satisfied 27 22- 19- 27 26
Not very satisfied 8 7 4- 8 7
Not at all satisfied 4 1- 1- 3 3
DK/Refused 1 0 1 1 1

Base: Deputy Returning Officer, Information Officer, Registration Officer, Poll Clerk