Elections

Election Timeline

Historically, Canada did not have fixed election dates for its national elections. Once elected, the mandate of the party that formed the government was for a maximum of five years from the day it was elected. For example, if a party was elected on May 5 2005, it would have to call for an election to be held no later than May 5 2010. Normally, elections were called in the fourth year of a government's term in office, but they sometimes called sooner than that. For example, the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien was re-elected in June 1997, but then called another election for November 2000, three years and five months into its mandate. The decision to call an election was at the discretion of the party in power, and more specifically, the Prime Minister.

The exception to this was during a minority government situation. Since the party forming the government in a minority situation has fewer seats than the combined opposition parties, the government can be defeated on a vote of no confidence. This last occurred on November 28, 2005, when the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin was defeated on a confidence motion. Earlier in the year, the Liberals narrowly avoided a similar fate on a budget vote. The vote ended in a tie, and the Speaker cast the deciding vote in favour of the bill.

Barring a defeat on a motion of non-confidence in the House, an election was called when the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to dissolve the House of Commons. However, the Government of Canada adopted fixed election dates on May 3, 2007, with the first general election to be held under this system set for Monday, October 19 2009, with subsequent elections set for the third Monday in October, four calendar years in the future. The new rules explicitly state that "nothing in this section affects the powers of the Governor General, including the power to dissolve Parliament at the Governor General’s discretion." Consequently, the Prime Minister will still be able to advise the Governor General to dissolve Parliament in cases where the government loses the confidence of the House of Commons, or for other reasons deemed valid by the Prime Minister. This was the case in 2008, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that Parliament had become "unworkable" and called on the Governor General to dissolve Parliament. A general election was held on October 14, 2008, almost a year ahead of schedule had Harper respected the fixed election date law. In theory, the next election would be held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year following the election, October 15, 2012. However, since the October 14, 2008, election resulted in another minority parliament, it is likely that an election will be held before that date.

Once an election has been called, electoral activities occur in the following order during the 36 days before election day. It should be noted that election campaigns can last longer than 36 days, which is the minimum duration. For example, the 2005-2006 election campaign began November 29, 2005, and the vote was held on January 23, 2006, for a total of 56 days.

The 36-Day Election Calendar

Activity	Time Frame
Issue of the writs; voting by special ballot begins	Day 36 before election day (or earlier)
Office of the returning officers open	Days 36-32
Preliminary lists of electors sent to returning officers	Day 34
Revision of lists of electors begins	Day 33
Notice of Election published - candidates may file nominations	Day 32 (or earlier)
Preliminary lists of electors sent to candidates as they are confirmed	Day 31
Targeted revision begins	Day 28
Voter information cards mailed to all registered electors	Days 26-24
Nominations close	Day 21 (14:00)
Confirmation of candidacies	Day 19 (14:00) (or earlier)
Reminder cards distributed	Days 19-17
Revised lists of electors sent to candidates	Day 11
Advance polls (registration at polls permitted)	Days 10, 9, 7
Actual spending limits announced for candidates and parties	Day 7
Revision ends; deadline for special ballot registration	Day 6 (18:00)
Deadline for special ballot voting*; election day (registration at polls permitted	Day 0

(*Special ballots must be received by the returning officer before the close of polls or at Elections Canada before 18:00, Ottawa time.)

After the vote: results, validation and judicial recounts

Following the close of the polls, each deputy returning officer in the riding counts the votes for his or her polling station, in the presence of the poll clerk, and any candidates or their representatives, or, if none are present, at least two electors. Before the count, the deputy returning officer must, in the following order:

1. count the number of electors who voted and enter the number in the Poll Book;
2. count the number of spoiled ballots, place them in the envelope provided for that purpose and seal the envelope;
3. count the unused ballots, place them in the envelope provided for that purpose and seal the envelope;
4. ensure that all ballots provided are accounted for.

During the count, the poll clerk (along with any of the candidates or their representatives who also wish to do so) keeps a tally of the votes for each candidate. The deputy returning officer examines each ballot, shows it to each person present and asks the poll clerk to tally the vote in favour of the candidate for whom the vote was cast. The deputy returning officer must reject ballots that were not supplied by him or her, that were improperly marked, or that were voided by the elector. The deputy returning officer keeps a record of every objection to a ballot made by a candidate or his or her representatives, numbers the ballot and initials it. The decision of the deputy returning officer is subject only by a judge on a judicial recount or on contestation of the validity of the election.

After the count, the deputy returning officer fills out a statement of the vote, recording the number of votes received at that polling station by each candidate and the number of rejected ballots. The deputy returning officer then telephones the unofficial results to the returning officer, who makes them public immediately. Although published, the results remain incomplete until all the deputy returning officers have phoned in their results. The candidates or their representatives who are present at the count have the right to receive a copy of each statement of the vote. The ballots and other election documents are then sealed in the ballot box, which is delivered to the returning officer for the validation of the results.

Validation of the results

Within seven days of election day, the returning officer must validate the results in the presence of the assistant returning officer, and any candidates or their representatives or, if none are present, at least two electors, by adding the totals given on each statement of the vote. The date, time and place of the validation is given in the Notice of Election published by the returning officer at the beginning of the election, so that the persons mentioned above may attend. The validation may not proceed if the returning officer has not received all the ballot boxes and the results of voting by special ballot. The validation must be postponed and every effort must be made to retrieve any missing ballot box. The Canada Elections Act contains specific provisions on how to proceed if a ballot box has been destroyed or continues to be missing.

In validating the results, the returning officer never manipulates ballots. The validation is done on the faith of the statements of the vote prepared by the deputy returning officers. If the statement of the vote is missing, appears to contain an error, to be incomplete or to have been altered, or is disputed by a candidate or his or her representative, the returning officer may open the ballot box to retrieve the copy of the statement. If the copy of the statement of the vote is not useful for resolving the issue, the returning officer may use the information that is written on the envelopes that contain the ballots. The returning officer must not open an envelope that appears to contain ballots; he or she cannot recount the votes.

The returning officer delivers a certificate announcing the validated results to the candidates. On the seventh day following the validation, or as soon as possible after the completion of a judicial recount, the returning officer "returns the writ" of election to the Chief Electoral Officer, after having, at the back of it, declared elected the candidate who has received the most votes.

Judicial recounts

If the leading candidates receive the same number of votes after the validation of the results, or if they are separated by less than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast in the electoral district, the returning officer automatically requests a judicial recount and advises the candidates and their official agents of it in writing. Any elector, including a candidate, may ask a judge (as defined in section 2 of the Canada Elections Act) to carry out a judicial recount. The request must be presented within four days of the validation of the results and must include an affidavit that the count was improperly carried out, that ballots were improperly rejected or that the returning officer incorrectly added up the results at the validation. The applicant must deposit $250 with the court as security for the costs of the candidate who obtained the largest number of votes.

If the judge grants a recount, it must begin within four days of the receipt of the request. Except with the permission of the judge, the only people permitted to be present at the recount are the judge, the returning officer, the candidates and a maximum of three representatives for each candidate. If a candidate is neither present nor represented, a maximum of three electors are entitled to attend on the candidate's behalf. The judge makes the recount from the statements contained in the ballot boxes, or recounts some or all of the ballots returned by the deputy returning officers. If the candidates still have the same number of votes after the recount, a by-election will be held for that electoral district.

As soon as the returning officer receives the judge's certificate stating the results of the judicial recount, and if there is no tie vote, he or she writes the name of the winning candidate on the election writ and returns the writ to the Chief Electoral Officer.

Source: Elections Canada