Mr. Chair, I'd just like to let folks know how I'm doing this presentation so you understand the technology. I'm using a talking computer so I'm having it speak in my ear and then I'm going to repeat it. If the computer stutters, then I also may stutter, so my deepest apologies in advance for that.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you as well to the other committee members for this opportunity to offer testimony today on behalf of CNIB.
CNIB, otherwise known as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, is a registered charity that has been offering vital services to individuals with vision loss for nearly 100 years. We are proud to provide community-based support, knowledge, and a national voice to ensure that Canadians who are blind or partially sighted can have the confidence, skills, and opportunities to fully participate in life. Whether a person is living with a disability like blindness or not, voting is a fundamental aspect of participation in a democracy. However, the ability for Canadians who are blind or partially sighted to exercise this right to vote depends heavily on the way that elections are designed and conducted.
CNIB is pleased to see that accessibility is being raised as an issue for consideration in Bill C-23, and we appreciate the opportunity to offer feedback on how this bill may affect voters with vision loss.
Canadians not only have a right to vote, but a right to vote in secret. The right to a secret ballot includes the right to mark one's ballot in private with no one else knowing for whom one voted. Voters in Canada also have the right to verify their choice to be sure that their ballots were marked in accordance with their wishes and were not spoiled.
Unfortunately, the right to a secret ballot is regularly denied to voters with vision loss in Canada. There are two primary means used to accommodate voters who are blind or partially sighted. First, election acts at all levels provide for registered voters to appoint a designate or election official to assist in the marking of a ballot based on the voter's instruction. However, this approach does not respect the right to a secret ballot. Voters who are blind or partially sighted must tell someone else, potentially a total stranger, for whom they wish to vote. The voter must trust that that person will mark the ballot in accordance with the voter's wishes, will not intentionally or accidentally spoil the ballot, and will keep that choice forever secret.
Alternatively, many election acts, including the Canada Elections Act, require that a template be provided to electors who are blind or partially sighted to assist them to mark their ballots. Unfortunately, this template also does not provide a full and effective accommodation of the right to a secret ballot. Unless they were to show the ballot to another person, voters with vision loss cannot check to be sure that their choice was correctly recorded on the ballot or that they did not accidentally spoil their votes.
The inability of voters with vision loss to exercise their right to a secret ballot is of significant concern to CNIB. Although we are extremely pleased to see that this issue is being brought forward through Bill C-23, this bill as it's currently written does not adequately address this issue.
The appropriate solution to this problem is to make available alternate voting processes such as voting by phone, by Internet, or other accessible electronic means. The ability for the Chief Electoral Officer to test alternative voting processes has been in place since the Canada Elections Act was amended in 2000. To the best of our knowledge, this type of testing has been extremely limited and has not yet opened new opportunities for voters with vision loss to exercise their rights. Bill C-23 would amend the Canada Elections Act to require that the Chief Electoral Officer obtain the prior approval of the Senate and House of Commons before testing an alternative electronic voting process in an official vote.
Considering that the CEO has not exercised the power to test alternative voting processes in the 14 years the option has been available, we fear that this approval process will put more burden on any chief electoral officer who wishes to do so.
We believe it is unlikely that making the process more onerous will result in voters with vision loss finally realizing their right to a secret ballot.
As an alternative to what is proposed in Bill C-23, CNIB recommends that the CEO be required to test an alternative electronic process in the future general election or in a byelection, not merely permitted to do so. Without directing the Chief Electoral Officer to test alternative electronic voting processes, we fear that further decades may pass where voters who are blind or partially sighted are denied their right to a secret ballot in a federal election.
Thank you so much for listening to my comments today. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.