Site Menu7. Closing the Election – Report on the 43rd General Election of October 21, 2019
A total of 338 candidates were elected to the House of Commons in the 43rd general election. Of these, 240 had been members in the 42nd Parliament.
Table 8 in the Appendix details the distribution of seats in the House of Commons by political affiliation.
7.1. Validation of Election Results
After the 43rd general election, electoral districts completed the validation of results in the days and weeks following election day. There were 12 electoral districts that required their validation dates to be postponed because of delays in the return of the ballot boxes to the returning officers due to logistical and weather challenges during transportation. Final validation of results was completed in 334 electoral districts by October 28 (within seven days), while four electoral districts completed the validation more than seven days after election day. The last validation was completed in Nunavut on November 7.
7.2. Judicial Recounts
Judicial recounts took place in three electoral districts: Hochelaga, Port Moody–Coquitlam, and Québec. In all three cases, the second-place candidate had made an application for the recount, which was granted by a judge.
In each case, the manual counting of ballots under judicial supervision began as scheduled. However, none was completed: upon request by the candidates who had applied for each recount, the presiding judge agreed to terminate the recount. As such, no results changed, and the validated results in each of the three electoral districts remained the final results.
There were no automatic judicial recounts requested by returning officers, as the difference between the number of votes cast for the first- and second-place candidates was more than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast in each of the 338 electoral districts.
7.3. Contested Elections
As of this report, there were no contested elections.
7.4. Paying Election Workers
Elections Canada commits to paying electoral workers within six to eight weeks after election day. After four weeks, Elections Canada had paid 98 percent of about 232,000 workers. As in any event of this magnitude, some workers' pay needed more attention as the files were incomplete at the time the returning officers were ready to close their offices. Returning officers have been working diligently to ensure that any missed timesheets or information is submitted promptly. Elections Canada continues to work on processing and resolving exceptional cases.
7.5. Estimated Cost of the Election
The costs of the 43rd general election were estimated at some $504 million for a 40-day calendar with expenditures being incurred over the course of four fiscal years, as they include the preparation, delivery and closing of the event, as well as reimbursements to political entities.
As of this report, many disbursements were still being processed; also, the audit of financial returns which precedes the reimbursements of eligible expenditures was just getting underway.
A current estimate of expenditures for the 43rd general election can be found on elections.ca.