Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will try to give my remarks in less than five minutes.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with the committee today about its study on special ballot voting.
I would first like to give a brief overview of the evolution of special ballots since the repeal of proxy voting and the expansion of the special voting rules in 1993 and then speak to special ballot voting during the 45th general election.
The Canada Elections Act divides electors into five categories for the purposes of administering the special voting rules: Canadian Forces electors, international electors, incarcerated electors, national electors and local electors. Each category has its own set of rules to administer, which can result in some complexity.
Prior to 1993, Canadians living or travelling outside the country could not cast a ballot. Only military personnel and diplomats were allowed to do so.
In 1993, special ballot voting was expanded to allow for voting by anyone, including Canadians living or travelling abroad. These legislative changes also provided for certain electors who are homebound to be served by special ballot by an election officer.
Further legislative changes were adopted in 2018 to implement two Supreme Court decisions. One decision expanded the vote to all incarcerated electors. The other removed the five-year limit for Canadians living abroad. Until then, Canadians living abroad for more than five years were not allowed to vote unless they were serving in the military or in the federal civil service.
Over the years, Elections Canada has also expanded the use of the special ballot regime to address the needs of electors facing barriers.
In the 1990s, Elections Canada began to use special ballots to serve electors in hospitals, and in 2004, special ballots were used to allow workers in remote work locations, such as mines, to vote outside of their electoral districts. In 2015, Elections Canada launched a vote on campus pilot project to open external service points at post-secondary institutions. Vote on campus also took place in 2019 and 2025.
In 2019, Elections Canada offered special voting kiosks as part of an action plan to accommodate electors observing Jewish holidays. In total, there were 27 kiosks open to all eligible electors in 15 electoral districts, and more than 7,000 electors took advantage of this offering.
In 2021, to ensure the safe delivery of the election during the COVID pandemic, we promoted the use of special ballots, allowing electors to vote by mail from the safety of their homes. We also improved the local vote-by-mail service by allowing local electors to apply online and provided the means to track ballots. In addition, long-term care facilities that were under quarantine were offered special ballot voting.
Finally, during the last few elections, in response to exceptional circumstances where incidents such as a severe storm or flooding impacted electors' opportunities to vote, we were able to offer replacement voting options through additional service points and the use of special ballots.
The use of special ballots in all of these cases allowed us to provide flexibility and remove barriers for electors.
During the last election, over 1.2 million electors voted using a special ballot—more than ever before and almost double the number in 2019.
Special ballots were integral to expanding services to electors, including through the vote on campus program that was offered for the first time in a non-fixed date election, and to accommodating some indigenous communities. The largest increase in voting was among voters who chose to vote by special ballot within their local communities. The number of national and international electors also doubled.
Overall, the rate of ballots returned late has decreased compared to previous elections, despite the fact that the Easter weekend interrupted mail delivery at a critical point in the electoral calendar. However, late ballots from international electors remained high, and I'd be happy to speak to that later through questions.
While the use of special ballots contributed to making the electoral process more accessible during the last election, the high volume and complexity of special ballots resulted in administrative errors, which I've reported to this committee. To make sure that special ballot voting services are adapted to this increased use by Canadians, following the election, I launched an internal review of Elections Canada's training program, control mechanisms and processes related to special ballot voting. The review is being finalized as we speak, and my team has produced a number of recommendations for improvements, which I will be happy to share with the committee very shortly.
Thank you. I would be happy to answer questions.
If it is appropriate, Mr. Chair, I would invite members to direct their questions to me, and of course, my officials will intervene as appropriate or as required.
