Thirty-seventh General Election 2000: Official Voting Results: Synopsis

POLLING STATIONS AND ELECTION WORKERS

Polling stations

The Canada Elections Act provides that voting shall take place in one or more polling stations established in each polling division (see Table D). In all, 57 705 polling stations were established on election day (56 822 stationary polling stations, 883 mobile polling stations).

TABLE D
Distribution of polling divisions and polling stations,
by province and territory – 37th general election 2000

The majority of these polling stations were located in educational facilities (24.91%) and community centres (25.27%). As shown in Table E, polling stations were also established in places as varied as hospitals, fire stations and band offices within Indian reserves, to make voting as accessible as possible.

TABLE E
Premises used as polling stations on
election day – 37th general election 2000

Each ordinary, stationary polling station served an average of 371 electors. The polls were open for 12 hours, with voting hours varying according to time zone (see Table F).

TABLE F
Hours of voting – 37th general election 2000

Under the Act, every polling station is required to have level access. If returning officers are unable to obtain suitable premises equipped with such access, they may, with the Chief Electoral Officer?s prior approval, locate a polling station in premises without level access. For the election of November 27, 2000, only 89 polling stations (0.5%) did not have level access.

The Canada Elections Act also provides for the establishment of mobile polling stations to collect the votes of elderly or disabled persons residing in institutions. These polling stations, set up in polling divisions containing two or more health care institutions, travel from one institution to the next and are open for the period of time established by the returning officer. From coast to coast, 883 mobile polling stations were established to serve a population of 141 260 registered electors (see Table G).

TABLE G
Number of mobile polling stations and
electors served – 37th general election 2000

Returning officers are also required to locate an advance poll in each advance polling district. A total of 3 023 advance polls were established for the 37th general election, and these polls had to be located in premises with level access.

Returning officers also had to allow electors in their electoral district to register for the special ballot by 6:00 p.m. on November 21, 2000.

Election workers

Some 166 000 election workers were mobilized to serve electors in the offices of returning officers during the election period and at polling stations (see Table H).

TABLE H
Number of election workers in electoral districts –
37th general election 2000

Each electoral district has its own returning officer, whose responsibility it is to appoint the assistant returning officer, deputy returning officers, poll clerks and all the personnel needed for the smooth operation of the election ? an average of some 550 people in all. The returning officer must be a qualified elector in the electoral district. All election workers are required to undertake formally to refrain from engaging in any partisan activities and to carry out their duties impartially.

The returning officer is appointed by the Governor in Council and cannot be removed from office unless there are sufficient grounds. However, the position becomes vacant if the returning officer resigns or the boundaries of the electoral district are changed as part of redistribution.

Since the general election of 1997, 72 new returning officers have been appointed (see Table I).

TABLE I
Appointments of returning officers

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