Thirty-sixth General Election 1997: Official Voting Results: Synopsis
OVERVIEW
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,
TABLE D
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Distribution of polling divisions and polling stations,
by province and territory 36th general election 1997 |
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The majority of these polling stations were located in educational facilities (25.92%) and community centres (26.60%). As shown in Table E, polling stations were also established in places as varied as hospitals, fire stations and Indian reserves, to make voting as accessible as possible.
TABLE E
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Premises used as polling stations on ordinary
polling day 36th general election 1997 |
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Each ordinary, stationary polling station served an average of 354 electors. The polls were open for 12 hours, rather than 11 hours as they had been in previous elections. For the first time, voting hours were staggered in the different time zones so that all stations closed at more or less the same time (see Table F).
TABLE F
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Hours of voting 36th general election 1997
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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
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 remain open at each place only as long as it takes for the electors
to vote. From coast to coast, 716 mobile polling stations were established to
serve a population of
Special measures were taken to facilitate voting for electors affected by the severe flooding in Manitoba. In one case, a mobile polling station was established outside the electoral district to collect votes from evacuated electors.
TABLE G
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Number of mobile polling stations
and electors served 36th general election 1997 |
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Returning officers are also required to locate an advance poll
in each advance polling district. A total of
Returning officers also had to allow electors in their electoral
district to register for the special ballot by
Election workers
Almost
TABLE H
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Number of election workers in
electoral districts 36th general election 1997 |
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Each electoral district has its own returning officer, who appoints an assistant returning officer and all the other workers needed to conduct the election properly on average, almost 500 people in all. The returning officer must be a qualified elector in the electoral district, but does not vote unless there is a tie following a recount. 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.
In 1996-97, 274 returning officers were appointed to the electoral districts as defined by the Representation Order of 1996 (see Table I). That high number is attributable to redistribution, which redefined the boundaries of most electoral districts and created new ones. Each new or redefined district is considered a new district, making it necessary to appoint a new returning officer. In the 31 districts that did not change, the returning officers were able to stay on without being reappointed.
TABLE I
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Appointments and resignations of
returning officers |
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