Evidence of meeting #123 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clause.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Calgary Midnapore, CPC
Sure. It relates to the inverted polling division/polling station relationship, and adds a ballot reconciliation requirement where multiple polls are at one polling station.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
To the mover, can you repeat the argument for this particular one, whatever we're calling this amendment? Are we going to call this CPC-1, or 10008563?
Liberal
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Can we just have the argument for this amendment? Referring back to the legislation, it is difficult to know what section 283.1 within the bill is and what this amendment would do.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Mrs. Kusie, there is a request that you explain the amendment again.
Calgary Midnapore, CPC
Apparently the reason for this amendment is concern that there will not be the ability to identify the numeric outcomes at one polling station, whereas the existing system ensures that there is the ability to determine the number coming from one specific polling station.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
This may be unfair to our witnesses, who have just seen this amendment, as we have. Do you have any ability to confirm or add to the explanation given on the effect of CPC minus one, or whatever we're calling this—the ballot reconciliation reports?
Are you familiar with this section of the Canada Elections Act and what changing Bill C-76 in this way would do? I ask this as you're getting the amendments right now.
As I said in my preamble, this might be unfair to ask, but if you are familiar with this....
I thank my colleague for the explanation. My inclination is to vote against something if I don't have the ability to base my vote on some evidence that I have seen at the committee so far, and I don't recall this issue being raised. That's unless our officials can tell us in the next little bit why this might be an improvement to our election laws.
LCdr Jean-François Morin
You're right that Bill C-76 makes many changes to the way that polling stations will be managed. Currently in the act, we have a polling station, which is basically a ballot box, and election officers who take the votes for one polling division. When many polling stations are regrouped in the same place, we call that a “polling place”.
What Bill C-76 changes is that polling places will become polling stations, and inside polling stations there will be many tables where election officers will be able to receive the votes. This follows a recommendation by the Chief Electoral Officer to modernize the administration of the vote at the polling stations. I'm getting to—
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Just so that I can understand the scenario you were talking about—and forgive me, committee members, but I exist in a visual world—traditionally, particularly in urban centres, you would come into a school or a church gym, where there would be many polling stations from different districts, all contained within one. We would call that a polling place. Is it the case that Bill C-76 changes that to call it not a polling place anymore, but would consider that one entire polling station?
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Then that change under proposed paragraph (e.1) isn't a new way of voting; it's just a new way of organizing the votes that come in. It doesn't matter which one an elector goes to.
LCdr Jean-François Morin
Eventually. The Chief Electoral Officer will be given more flexibility in the management of polling stations. He has already indicated that the “voting at any table” concept will not be applied for the 2019 election.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
You're saying the CEO doesn't have time now, given the lateness of the bill, to make the change that we're contemplating under this section, which would allow a voter to simply find a polling station, be enumerated, and be able to vote. This would be for future elections beyond 2019.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Okay, and then can you comment on the change that this amendment would make to that scenario?
LCdr Jean-François Morin
This amendment would bring a change to the definition of “election documents” so that the ballot reconciliation reports would be considered an election document. Ballot reconciliation reports are a concept that will be introduced by a further amendment, but section 533 of the Canada Elections Act—it's not in the bill, but the act—already requires the Chief Electoral Officer to make a report of the results by polling division—
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Aren't those commonly referred to as “bingo sheets”? Is that the reconciliation report, or is that—
LCdr Jean-François Morin
No, that's different. The Chief Electoral Officer will still have to report results for each polling division in a separate manner. Not all polling divisions included in the polling station will be amalgamated. They will still need to be reported separately.
