Frequently Asked Questions
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Registration and voting · Elections
· Elections
Canada · Election
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· Members
of Parliament · Political
entities including third parties · General
questions ·
- When will final results from the election
be available? What is the process?
- Section 59 of the Canada
Elections Act provides for the cancellation
of an election due to flood, fire or other disaster. How does section
59 work in the context of a general election?
- Are federal election signs subject to municipal and provincial regulations?
- Does the Canada Elections Act govern the use of federal election signs on public sites?
- What was the election date for the last general election?
- When is an election held?
- Results of the 2004 general election
- Results of the 2000 general election
- Results of the 1997 general election
- What happens after an election?
- How and when do MPs take office?
- Who calls elections?
- How much did the 2000 general election cost?
- How much did the 1997 general election cost?
- When will final results from the election be available? What is the process?
The Canada Elections Act provides for the publication of the official results from a general election without delay. Between election night, when the preliminary results are announced, and the publication of the final official voting results, the balloting results go through a number of verification stages, the results of which are published as they become available.
The specific timetable for the publication of results as set out in the Act is as follows:
- On election night, once the polls in a district are closed, preliminary
results are announced and published on Elections Canada's Web
site as they become available. These preliminary results are tabulated
from the counts done at each polling station as they come in.
- Within a few days of those published results, returning officers
are required to validate the counts submitted from the individual polls.
These validated results are made public and published on the Web site
as they become available. Validations are usually completed the same
day that they start. (The Act allows validations to be delayed up to
three weeks, if necessary, to allow all ballot boxes to be delivered
to the returning officer.)
- Once a validation is completed, the Act requires the returning officer
to wait seven days to formally declare the elected winner. This
is to provide an opportunity for a judicial recount to be held where
required. Within that waiting period, if a judicial recount is to be
held, it must start by the eighth day following the returning officer's
validation of results. Once started, a recount usually takes between
one and two days. If a recount is held, the results of that recount
are made public and published on the Web on its completion.
- On the seventh day following the validation of results (or, if a
judicial recount was held, on its completion), the returning officer
declares the winner and returns the writ of election to the Chief Electoral
Officer.
- Elections Canada then collects and publishes the final official voting results without delay as specified by section 533 of the Canada Elections Act. In preparing the official voting results, Elections Canada does not correct or otherwise alter the results that have been arrived at either by a returning officer during the validation or by a judge on a judicial recount. It merely collects, collates and reports those results in the official voting results.
The official voting results also report the final count of electors on the list of electors for each poll. In order to do this, Elections Canada must data-capture the revisions made to the list of electors during the election, including the electors who registered at the polls on election day. In the 38th general election, some 764,000 electors registered at the polls.
While results are not made public right away on a poll-by-poll basis, including the results of advance polls and votes cast under the Special Voting Rules, this breakdown is included in the official voting results. In a few cases, the results from more than one poll may be reported together where this is necessary to protect the secrecy of the vote in each poll.
- Section 59 of the Canada Elections Act provides for the cancellation of an election due to flood, fire or other disaster. How does section 59 work in the context of a general election?
- Cancelling an election in any given electoral district is done only
as a very last resort.
- Authority to withdraw a writ (and the process to be followed) is
found in section 59 of the Canada Elections Act.
- It has to be impracticable to carry out the election ("pratiquement impossible" in the French version).
- By reason of a flood, fire or other disaster ("calamité" in French).
- If the Chief Electoral Officer reaches the view that a writ
has to be withdrawn, a certificate will be delivered to the Governor
in Council in which the Chief Electoral Officer attests to the impracticability
of carrying out the election by reason of a flood, fire or other disaster,
and naming the district(s) affected by this certification.
- Section 59 provides that, on receipt of the certificate, the Governor
in Council (the Governor General on the recommendation of Cabinet)
may order the withdrawal of the writ for any electoral district for
which the Chief Electoral Officer has certified that it is impracticable
to carry out the election.
- Effect of order:
- Once the Governor in Council issues the order, the election is cancelled for these districts.
- The general election continues in the rest of the country.
- Once an order is made, the Chief Electoral Officer will:
- Issue a press release advising the public of the decision.
- Parties and returning officers will also be advised.
- Following the cancellation of an election under section 59:
- The Chief Electoral Officer must then issue a new writ for affected districts.
- The new writ must be issued within three months.
- Polling day may not be later than three months after the issue of the new writ.
- As this will be a new election:
- The new election in affected districts will last a minimum of 36 days; and
- Candidates will be subject to new spending limits.
- Are federal election signs subject to municipal and provincial regulations?
By virtue of section 325 of the Canada Elections Act, electoral signs of political parties, candidates and third parties are subject to provincial and municipal regulations regarding, notably, restrictions on placement, size and time. Political parties, candidates and third parties wanting to post election advertising on public sites should consult with the appropriate public authorities before proceeding.
For case law with respect to the freedom of expression and regulation on signs, please see the following legal decisions: R. v. Guignard [2002] 1 S.C.R. 472, Ramsden v. Peterborough [1993] 2 S.C.R. 1084 and Beaumier v. City of Brampton [1999] O.J. 4407.- Does the Canada Elections Act govern the use of federal election signs on public sites?
Yes. Subsection 325(1) of the Canada Elections Act states that no person shall prevent or impair the transmission to the public of an election advertising message without the consent of a person with authority to authorize its transmission. Subsection 325(2) of the Act sets out two exceptions: 1- a public authority will be allowed to remove a sign which is posted contrary to the law provided advance notice has been given to the person who authorized its posting and 2- a public authority will be allowed to remove a sign where the posting of it is a hazard to public safety without having to provide advance notice to the person who authorized its posting.
- What was the election date for the last general election?
Election day for the 39th general election was January 23, 2006. The writs were set to be returned on February 13, 2006.
- When is an election held?
General election
The date of a general election is set by the Governor in Council. According
to subsection
By-elections
When a seat in the House of Commons becomes officially vacant, the Speaker of the House must inform the Chief Electoral Officer immediately. Between the 11th and the 180th day after receiving notification, the Chief Electoral Officer issues a writ to the returning officer of the electoral district concerned, directing him or her to hold a by-election. The date on the writ is determined by the Governor in Council.
Two by-elections have been called, with election day set for November 27, 2006, in the electoral districts of Repentigny and London North Centre.
- Results of the 2004 general election
Thirty-eighth General Election 2004: Official Voting Results summarizes the election results and provides poll-by-poll results by electoral district. Note that the poll-by-poll results can also be downloaded (for research purposes).
You can also order this publication on CD-ROM by going to the Publications section.
- Results of the 2000 general election
Thirty-seventh General Election 2000: Official Voting Results: Synopsis gives a summary of the results.
Thirty-seventh General Election 2000: Official Voting Results: Poll-by-poll Results gives the detailed results for every polling division in each electoral district.
This data can be downloaded from this site. You can also order it on CD-ROM by going to the Publications section.
- Results of the 1997 general election
Thirty-sixth General Election 1997: Official Voting Results: Synopsis gives a summary of the results.
Thirty-sixth General Election 1997: Official Voting Results: Poll-by-poll Results gives the detailed results for every polling division in each electoral district.
- What happens after an election?
After the polls close, every deputy returning officer counts the votes for his or her polling station, assisted by the poll clerk and witnessed by the candidates or their representatives.
The deputy returning officer records the number of votes received by each candidate and the number of rejected ballots on a Statement of the Vote. The ballots and other election documents are then sealed in the ballot box and delivered to the returning officer.
Validation of results
Every returning officer will validate the results by adding the totals given on each Statement of the Vote. The returning officer then delivers a certificate announcing the validated results to the candidates. On the seventh day after the validation, he or she writes the name of the candidate who has received the most votes on the election writ, signs the writ and returns it to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.
Judicial recounts
A judicial recount occurs automatically if the two leading candidates receive the same number of votes after the validation, or if they are separated by less than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast in the electoral district. Any elector may ask a judge to carry out a judicial recount within four days of the validation of the results, with a $250 deposit and an affidavit that the count was improperly carried out, ballot papers were improperly rejected or the returning officer carried out the validation improperly.
If the two leading candidates still have the same number of votes after the recount, a by-election will be held for that electoral district.
As soon as the returning officer receives the judge's certificate stating the results of the judicial recount, and if there is no tie vote, he or she writes the name of the winning candidate on the election writ and returns the writ to the Chief Electoral Officer.
- How and when do MPs take office?
Once the Chief Electoral Officer receives a writ of election from a returning officer, declaring the winning candidate for that riding, he publishes a notice in the Canada Gazette and sends a letter of confirmation to the Clerk of the House of Commons, making the election of that candidate official. Only after this has happened may the candidate be sworn in as an MP.
- Who calls elections?
The Governor in Council formally calls the election and instructs the Chief Electoral Officer to issue the writs for an election.
- How much did the 2000 general election cost?
The cost of the 2000 general election, including the partial
reimbursement of election expenses to eligible candidates and political parties
and the maintenance of the National Register of Electors since the 1997 general
election, was
- How much did the 1997 general election cost?
The cost of the 1997 general election was $129.2 million. The cost of the final door-to-door enumeration, which was conducted outside the 1997 general election period, was $71.4 million. The combined cost of the enumeration and election were $200.6 million.