Procedure and House Affairs committee  There were three countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Namibia. Those are the only three countries in the world that have two polling days. There's also Zimbabwe, but it's not a democratic country. Italy was added two years ago, in 2005, but it isn't yet part of our sample.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, these are factors that we considered in another study that we conducted for Elections Canada a few years ago. Proxy voting, advance polling and postal voting are three measures that, taken together, increase voter turnout in the world the most. For the same sample as the one we used for this study, there was an impact of 11 percentage points.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Advance polling is the most effective of the three measures.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We studied that factor. There's no impact if the day considered is a Sunday or a statutory holiday, because there can be two options, depending on the country. That measure had no significant impact on voter turnout. In most of the studies conducted by other researchers, there is a consensus that there is no impact.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would like to support Peter's remarks. It is true that Sweden is a kind of pioneer country. All possible voter convenience measures have been observed there for a long time. It has been observed that, over the long term, voter turnout rates are very high, even though voting is not mandatory.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think you have to consider what the real cost incurred would be. If it is a net expenditure of $34 million, you have to consider that a 1% increase in voter turnout would represent approximately 200,000 more voters, but that each additional vote would cost approximately $150. I don't think it's up to us to decide whether that is worth the trouble.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Bill C-16 proposes a number of measures to increase the convenience of voting in Canada. These provisions are: increased advanced polling opportunities, the existence of two consecutive regular polling days rather than only one, and the possibility of voting on a Sunday. The combination of the three measures provided for in Bill C-16 would make Canada's electoral legislation very unique.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My name is Agnieszka Dobrzynska, and I am a research associate in the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies at the Université de Montréal. I hold a doctorate in political science.