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Voting in the 2004 Federal Election
The process and how
to vote
Who can vote?
- Canadian citizens, 18 and over (on polling day).
- If you are eligible and have been living away from
Canada for less than five consecutive years, you
are eligible to vote under The
Special Voting Rules.
- You can register to vote
by going to the Elections
Canada website.
Homeless People:
- An eligible voter who is homeless or without a fixed address
can vote by registering with proof of identity and the
address where he or she is staying OR by taking an oath
as to identity and residence (another registered voter
from the same electoral district must vouch for this information).
Canadians Living Outside of Canada:
- Eligible voters outside of Canada can vote by special mail-in
ballots.
- More details are
available on the Elections
Canada website.
New Citizens:
- New citizens are registered through Citizenship and Immigration
Canada by checking off the consent box on the citizenship
application (separate registration occurs if the consent
box was not checked).
Soldiers:
- Soldiers who have filled out a Statement of Ordinary
Residence form (SOR) will automatically receive
a special ballot voting kit after an election is
called.
- It is the soldier's responsibility to ensure that the ballot
arrives in Ottawa by 1800 hours (Eastern Time) on election
day.
- There are more details on the Voting
by Special Ballot for Canadian Forces Electors website.
Prisoners:
- A Supreme Court ruling ( Sauvé v. Canada )
on October 31, 2002 granted all inmates the right
to vote in federal elections, by-elections and referendums.
- The judgment ruled that prohibiting this right under
former section 51( e ), now section 4( c ),
of the Canada Elections Act violated the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.
- Prisoners wishing to vote fill out an Application
for Registration and Special Ballot , available from
their prison.
British Citizens:
- As of 1970, amendments to the Canada Elections Act restricted
the right to vote to Canadian citizens
- However, British subjects eligible to vote as of June 25,
1968, kept their voting rights until 1975.
How do I get on the Voters List?
- Most electors are registered in the National Register
of Electors or Voters List from previous elections.
- Elections Canada updates the Register from a number of sources
(e.g. vehicle registrars, tax forms from Canada Customs
and Revenue Agency, Citizenship and Immigration, vital
statistics agencies, and provincial electoral agencies).
- If you are not on the Voters List, you can register with
Elections
Canada.
What is a ‘secret ballot'?
- Canada's electoral laws ensure that each voter's ballot is
kept secret so that the democratic process is as free and
fair as possible.
- There are strict procedures at the polling
stations:
- Voters present themselves to a deputy
returning officer for their polling division.
- The poll clerk then checks to determine that
each voter's name appears on the
voters' list for that poll.
- Once confirmed, the deputy returning officer
removes an initialled and pre-folded
ballot from the book – with its
counterfoil still attached – and directs
the voter to go behind the voting screen
to mark the ballot in secret.
- The ballot is then returned, folded, to the
same deputy returning officer.
- The deputy returning officer takes each ballot
that is returned - without unfolding
it - and checks that it is the same initialled
ballot that was presented to the voter (the
serial number on the counterfoil must match
the serial number on the stub remaining in
the book).
- Once checked, the deputy returning officer removes
and discards the counterfoil and returns
the still folded ballot to the voter. The voter
places the ballot in the ballot box, or asks
the deputy returning officer to do so.
- Once the voting is finished, the poll clerk
checks off that voter's name on the voters' list.
- It is an offence for
any election officer, candidate, or representative of a
candidate present at a polling station or at the counting of
the votes, to betray the secrecy of the ballots.
- Perhaps most importantly, Elections Canada does not collect
or hold data on how any individual elector has voted.
What am I voting for?
- Voting is a way to choose someone to represent you in Parliament.
This is the primary way of participating in the formal
Canadian system of democracy or ‘rule of the people'.
- There are 308 representatives in Canada's Parliament originating
from all across the country according to population, historical
treaties, and geography. A Member of Parliament (MP) represents
each constituency, or electoral district.
• Go to Elections
Canada to find
out which electoral district you're in.
For more information, visit the Elections
Canada website.
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