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Additional polling station for electors of Toronto-St. Paul (advance polling)

42nd General Election

Adaptation to establish a second polling station for advance polling district 604 in the electoral district of Toronto-St.Paul pursuant to subsection 17(1) of the canada election act

Whereas the 42nd federal general election was called on August 2, 2015, with advance polling starting on October 9, 2015;

Whereas subsection 168(3) provides that a polling station shall be established in each advance polling district;

Whereas the original location of the polling station for advance polling district 604 was changed because of concerns that the chosen location was near a construction site;

Whereas notices of confirmation of registration indicating the change in the polling station address were not sent to all affected electors of the electoral district of Toronto-St. Paul, and this could create confusion as to where they are to vote;

Whereas it is possible to open a second polling station at the original location before the advance poll;

And whereas subsection 17(1) of the Canada Elections Act provides that:

17. (1) During an election period or within 30 days after it, if an emergency, an unusual or unforeseen circumstance or an error makes it necessary, the Chief Electoral Officer may, for the sole purpose of enabling electors to exercise their right to vote or enabling the counting of votes, adapt any provision of this Act and, in particular, may extend the time for doing any act, subject to subsection (2), or may increase the number of election officers or polling stations.

Therefore, the Canada Elections Act is hereby adapted to add, after section 168, a new section 168.1 as follows:

168.1. (1) For the purposes of advance polling – and despite subsection 168(3) of the present Act – a second polling station shall be established by the returning officer for advance polling district 604 in the electoral district of Toronto-St. Paul at the location where the original polling station was to be established.

(2) Before the holding of the vote at the second polling station mentioned in subsection (1), the returning officer of this electoral district shall provide the deputy returning officer the election materials listed at subsection 119(1), including the list of electors for advance polling district 604.

(3) After the counting of the votes, and for the application of section 287, the deputy returning officer of the polling station for advance polling district 604, as well as the deputy returning officer for the second polling station mentioned in subsection (1), shall each prepare a statement of the vote. The returning officer shall report the results of the advance polling district by adding together the numbers of votes in favour of each candidate and the numbers of rejected ballots, as indicated in both statements of the vote.

October 9, 2015

Marc Mayrand
Chief Electoral Officer