Evidence of meeting #5 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was poffenroth.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Garrity, could you share how your protocols were different between a usual election and this election, using two columns? Would you be willing to table that with the committee, please.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Prince Edward Island
We have an election COVID document that really details all of the things we're doing differently, and I can table that.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
That would be terrific. Thank you.
Mr. Garrity, did you have different protocols for different locations? For example, I don't know if you included schools, community centres or long-term care.... Were there different protocols? Yes or no, please.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Prince Edward Island
No, schools are not being used, and haven't been used in the past in P.E.I.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
I appreciate that.
Ms. Poffenroth, were there any areas where electors were disenfranchised as a result of unseen obstacles, please?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
I'm just trying to understand. When you say "areas", do you mean for patients or...?
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Were there any electors who had difficulty voting as a result of the pandemic that we should be aware of? You've talked about long-term care.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
Did you say “unable to vote”?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
Oh, I guess I would have to say it was likely, but it's case by case.... I can't speak for individual electors.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
In your words, you were worried where electors were “disenfranchised” as a result of unseen obstacles. Could expand on that, please?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
Well, these are issues with mail-in ballots, including whether or not they received ballots on time and were able to get them back on time. For individuals who lived in long-term care facilities, we know that we were facilitating and reaching out, but I have no way of knowing if every individual in those facilities who wanted to vote was able to vote.
Then, there would be individuals who were just concerned about going out to vote at all. It's more of a general sense. I can't speak to whether or not individual voters chose not to vote because of the pandemic.
Liberal
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Thank you.
My questions are addressed to both witnesses, and I would like to have short answers since my time is limited.
Long-term care facilities are a problem. You said that attendants could eventually replace poll officials because of the pandemic. Is that true in both cases?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
I'm not sure I understand the question, actually.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Will the attendants in long-term care facilities be called upon to replace people representing the returning officer for the vote?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
No, they didn't replace the returning officer so much as they were assisting voters with making sure their ballots got into their envelopes, and distributing the applications to make sure they got signed. They weren't so much replacing the work of the election workers, but there was an extra burden put onto them to make sure that things got distributed to the electors and collected.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Prince Edward Island
That would be the same in P.E.I. as well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Mr. Therrien, could you hold your mike up a little bit closer to your mouth?
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
I see.
Can attendants, unbeknownst to the voters involved, cast a vote for people who are not qualified to vote and who live in a long-term care facility?
Could there be a situation on the verge of electoral fraud that would be facilitated by mail-in votes?
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections New Brunswick
In New Brunswick, the individual voter has to sign both the application and the certificate envelope, and we compare those two signatures. That's our test to ensure that the person requesting the ballot is actually the individual who's voting.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Prince Edward Island
We have that same policy here in P.E.I. You have to sign the application and the certificate envelope, and they are compared. Again, that is the level of security that we would have, although people can have assistance in completing the ballot if necessary. However, they at least have to make their mark on the certificate envelope.