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Survey of Election Officers following the 41st Federal General Election

Section 7: Experience at the Polls

The following section reports on the officers' experience at the polls, such as the opening time of the polling centre, the flow of electors and challenges encountered in responding to electors in their own language.

Opening of the Polling Centre

Virtually all election officers (99%) reported that their polling centres opened on time, an increase of one percentage point over the 2008 baseline survey. Officers located in Quebec were slightly more likely to report delays in the opening of their polling centre (3% vs 1% overall).

Q13a: "Did the polling centre open on time?" (n=1,109")

Q13a: "Did the polling centre open on time?" (n=1,109
Text description of graph Q13a: "Did the polling centre open on time?"

In the small number of cases (n=42) who did not open on time, a variety of reasons were provided. These reasons can be grouped into five major categories: employees showing up late (11), poor communications with external suppliers (10), materials or furniture unavailable (8), poor leadership (7) and inadequate room set up (4).

Q14: "Can you tell me why not?" (n=42)
Total(count)
Some employees showed up late/didn't show up 11
Poor communication between persons in charge and outside providers 10
Some material/furniture weren't available/wasn't provided on time 8
Poor leadership 7
The room wasn't set up as intended 4
No answer 2

Any who answered NO to Q13a/b. Coded answers.

The Flow of Electors

Similar to the 2008 election, the flow of electors in the 2011 election went smoothly according to 95% of the officers polled. A significant improvement was noted in Manitoba, where 97% of officers reported that the flow of electors went smoothly, compared to 84% in 2008. In 2011, officers from Quebec (78%) were more likely to say that the flow of electors went very smoothly, whereas officers from Saskatchewan and Alberta (31% in both cases) were more likely to say that the flow of electors went somewhat smoothly.

Q15: "Overall, would you say that the flow of electors went very smoothly, somewhat smoothly, not very smoothly or not at all smoothly, during your working hours?" By region (2011: n=3,213; 2008: n=3,115)

Q15: "Overall, would you say that the flow of electors went very smoothly, somewhat smoothly, not very smoothly or not at all smoothly, during your working hours?" By region (2011: n=3,213; 2008: n=3,115)
Text description of graph Q15: "Overall, would you say that the flow of electors went very smoothly, somewhat smoothly, not very smoothly or not at all smoothly, during your working hours?" By region

Percentage saying that the flow of electors went somewhat/very smoothly (combined ratings of 1 and 2 on a 4 point scale).
*Caution should be used when interpreting results due to small sample.

The flow of electors was reportedly uneven across the types of polling stations. For instance, 89% of officers who worked at advance polls claimed the flow of electors went smoothly, which is significantly lower than the 96% who worked at ordinary or mobile polls. In mobile polls, however, a significantly smaller proportion of officers (64%) qualified the flow as very smooth.

Q15: "Overall, would you say that the flow of electors went very smoothly, somewhat smoothly, not very smoothly or not at all smoothly, during your working hours?" By type of poll and staffing position (n=3,213)
Total Advance Ordinary Mobile CPS DRO IO
Very smoothly 73% 71% 74% 64%- 74% 73% 75%
Somewhat smoothly 22% 18%- 22% 32%+ 23% 22% 21%
Not very smoothly 3% 9%+ 3%- 1% 2% 4% 3%
Not at all smoothly 1% 2%+ 1%- 2% 1% 1% 1%

Responding to Electors in Their Own Language

The vast majority (96%) of central poll supervisors and information officers did not encounter difficulty responding to electors in their own language. From a regional perspective, officers in BC were more likely to encounter difficulties in responding to electors in their own language with 9% reporting a difficulty compared to 4% nationally.

Q16: "Did you ever encounter difficulty in responding to electors in their own language?" By region and student residence (n=1,109)
Total ATL. QC ON MAN SASK AB BC TER.* N. of 50th STUDENT RES.*
Yes 4% 3% 2% 3% 1% 1% 2% 9%+ 0% 3% 0%
No 96% 97% 98% 97% 99% 99% 98% 91%- 100% 97% 100%

Central poll supervisors and information officers only.
*Caution should be used when interpreting results due to small sample.

Information officers were also significantly more likely to report a difficulty (5%) compared to central poll supervisors (2%).


Q16: "Did you ever encounter difficulty in responding to electors in their own language?" By type of poll and staffing position (n=1,109)
Total Advance Ordinary CPS IO
Yes 4% 4% 4% 2%- 5%+
No 96% 96% 96% 98%+ 95%-

Central poll supervisors and information officers only.