Evidence of meeting #32 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was person.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
I'm glad to see that my Conservative colleagues from provinces other than Quebec all have an understanding of the bingo card system, because that is the reason why I asked that Mr. Blanchet be invited to appear.
Mr. Blanchet, how long have you been Chief Electoral Officer?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
Since May 2000.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
If memory serves me well, you were acting in the position following the departure of Mr. Côté, were you not?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
No. I was actually appointed on April 19, 2000 and took up my new duties in May 2000. I was from the outside.
Bloc
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
I was preceded by a number of individuals who held the position on an acting basis, including Jacques Girard. Four or five people held the position on an acting basis between the time Mr. Côté left, in 1997, and 2000. One of those individuals has been given a seven-year mandate. I refer to Jacques Girard, who died of cancer eight months later.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Yes, I had forgotten that.
Mr. Blanchet, just so that every one clearly understands, we need to agree on our terminology. When an election is held in Quebec, I walk up to what is called the voting table. On that table is the ballot box. In Quebec, what is the person immediately beside the ballot box called?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
The deputy returning officer.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
The deputy returning officer.
And what is the title of the person seated at the immediate right of the deputy returning officer?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
That is the poll clerk.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
There are also one or two electoral list officers. Is that correct?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
The law provides for there to be two such officers. I have an obligation to ensure that there are two. If that is not possible, I have to make a special arrangement for there to be less than two.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
And there is no one else at that table?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
No.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Are there no other representatives? The parties don't need to have representatives there, which allows them to save some money. With the bingo cards, the different political parties have fresh information every half hour about electors who have voted and who have not voted. Is that correct?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
Yes, absolutely.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
And are you familiar with the terminology used at the federal level?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
Yes.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
At the federal level, the person guarding the ballot box is also called the deputy returning officer, and the person we call the “secrétaire” in the Quebec system is called the “greffier” at the federal level.
In addition to that, each of the parties has its own representative at the table. When there are six or seven political parties, the deputy returning officers are tearing their hair out. They may decide that they want only two people to be at the table. If that is the case, the others are behind crossing the names off their lists. That is the way the system works.
As Mr. Proulx mentioned, the Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Kingsley, and the members of his team, some of whom are here today, told us that there would need to be a photocopier in every polling station. Now, either they did not realize that we use NCR forms in Quebec, or they want to make things as complicated as possible. As the saying goes, give a dog a bad name and hang him. So, you don't have photocopiers in polling stations.
Mr. Kingsley argued that this will cost money, and the Government Leader repeated that. The two objectives are: not to increase costs, and to ensure that the voting process runs smoothly. If we decide at the federal level not to go with a system of electoral list officers because of the costs and we ask the poll clerk, who is already responsible for striking the names off the list, to fill in the bingo card at the same time that he strikes off the name of Michel Guimond, elector 122 in polling station 126, would that slow down the process?
That can be done while the elector is in the polling booth voting. That is not necessarily something that is done in front of him. While the elector is voting over there, does the clerk have anything else to do while waiting for the next elector to show up? Does such a system make for a less fluid voting process, in your opinion?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
We have never experimented with that in Quebec. As we said previously, we have two electoral list officers and we already find that two is too many. We believe that one such officer would be adequate. On the other hand, you are asking whether it would be possible to do away with them altogether. I think you would have to try it out to see. So, I really can't give you a precise answer to that question.
As you expressed it so well a moment ago, we certainly should not do anything that could result in a less fluid voting process. Would it be an inconvenience, given that every half hour, that information has to be turned over to the political parties that ask for it? Well, you know what it's like on election day: there is a lot going on. So, if the poll clerk has to do that as well as carry out the normal duties of a clerk, there could be a problem. So, I'm afraid I can't give you a specific answer to that question without having tested it directly.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
In Quebec, once the elector has identified himself and the DRO has given him his ballot to go and vote in the polling booth, what does the poll clerk do?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
He waits for the next elector, of course.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
That suggests that people are not lining up in front of him.
I'm going to ask my last question now. Ms. Picard will have others later on, Mr. Chairman.
I know that under the Quebec system, the electoral lists that you give to the political parties include the date of birth, is that correct?
Chief Electoral Officer & President of the Commission for Electoral Representation, Élections Québec
Yes.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Does that cause problems? Have you had complaints about confidentiality or non-compliance with the Privacy Act?