Citizen Voting Act

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in August 2015.

Sponsor

Pierre Poilievre  Conservative

Status

In committee (House), as of May 4, 2015
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to
(a) eliminate the international register of electors and incorporate all of the information contained in it into the Register of Electors;
(b) require electors who are resident outside Canada to make an application for registration and special ballot after the issue of the writs at each election;
(c) stipulate that electors who are resident outside Canada may only receive a special ballot for the address at which they last resided in Canada;
(d) require that electors who are applying for a special ballot under Division 3 or 4 of Part 11 include in their application for registration and special ballot proof of identity and residence and, if they apply from outside Canada, proof of Canadian citizenship;
(e) require that an external auditor perform an audit and report on election workers’ compliance with special ballot voting procedures and requirements for every election;
(f) authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with information for the purpose of assisting the Chief Electoral Officer to, among other things, delete from the Register of Electors the names of persons who are not Canadian citizens; and
(g) add the offence of voting or attempting to vote by special ballot under Division 3 or 4 of Part 11 while knowing that one is not qualified as an elector and add offences under those Divisions of attesting to the residence of more than one elector and of acting as an attestor when one’s own residence has already been attested to.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

May 4, 2015 Passed That the Bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
April 30, 2015 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Procedure and House Affairs Committee, on May 7, 2015

Procedure and House Affairs Committee, on May 12, 2015

Procedure and House Affairs Committee, on May 26, 2015

  • André Gagnon, Acting Deputy Clerk, House of Commons
  • Jean-Philippe Brochu, Deputy Principal Clerk, Journals Branch, House of Commons
  • Dennis Pilon, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, York University, As an Individual
  • Joanna Woo, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zürich, As an Individual
  • Ian Lee, Professor, Carleton University, As an Individual
  • Michael Pal, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, As an Individual

Procedure and House Affairs Committee, on May 28, 2015

Procedure and House Affairs Committee, on June 2, 2015

  • Gillian Frank, Lecturer, Department of Religion and Visiting Fellow, Center for the Study of Religion, As an Individual
  • Nicolas Marcel Jacques Chapuis, Ambassador of France to Canada, Embassy of France
  • Josh Paterson, Executive Director, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
  • Jamie Biggar, Campaigns Director, Leadnow.ca
  • Henry Milner, Visiting Researcher, Department of Political Science, Université de Montréal, As an Individual