Backgrounders

The Returning Officer

Appointment and qualifications

Appointed by Governor in Council, a federal returning officer is responsible, under the general supervision of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, for the preparation and conduct of an election in his or her electoral district. The duties of a returning officer are varied and call for the use of a wide range of modern management techniques: financial planning; materiel, human and financial resources management; contract negotiation; public and media relations; and office automation, to name a few. The returning officer must be competent in these areas and very efficient in order to complete all the tasks involved within a very short and specific time period.

As the person responsible for ensuring the integrity and honesty of the electoral process, the returning officer must also clearly demonstrate certain personal qualities. Sound judgment, patience, tact, discretion, and lots of energy are essential. Although returning officers receive specific instructions from the Chief Electoral Officer on how to administer the Canada Elections Act and the electoral process, they must make many important decisions based on local circumstances and conditions, and resolve many problems that can arise over the course of an electoral event.

The work is by nature impartial and non-partisan: the returning officer must conduct all business accordingly. Returning officers must abide by the government's Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code and Elections Canada's Code of Professional Conduct, and must abstain from all activities of a politically partisan nature, both during and outside election and referendum periods.

Nature of the work

The work of returning officers is extremely demanding during an election or referendum. To succeed, a returning officer must:

• know his or her electoral district well, and be prepared to travel within it
  
  
• work well under pressure
  
  
• be available to work long hours without notice for the duration of the election or referendum period
  
  
• be able to plan, manage and allocate resources effectively
  
  
• understand how to use electoral maps
  
  
• respond with patience, good humour and discretion to numerous requests for information from electors and exercise tact and common sense when dealing with disgruntled voters with complaints and with party workers competing against each other during the campaign
  
  
• hire and train hundreds of election or referendum workers (revising agents, deputy returning officers, poll clerks, registration officers and others)
  
  
• possess basic media, public relations and office automation skills
  
  
• have a good understanding of the Canada Elections Act
  
  
• follow electoral regulations and procedures strictly, with regard to both duties and time constraints

The returning officer must comply with the instructions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer regarding the minimum number of hours the office must be open, namely, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Friday; from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturdays; and from noon to 4:00 p.m. Sundays, with few exceptions.

Duties

The primary duty of returning officers is to run electoral events in their electoral districts. During an election period, they must allow public inspection, on request, of a confirmed candidate's nomination papers. Following the election, they must also allow public inspection, on request, of candidates' election expenses reports for the six months after they become available.

Returning officers must also be free to participate in a variety of activities between electoral events. They take courses on establishing polling division boundaries within their electoral districts and on any new legislation or procedures, and participate in special projects as required by the Chief Electoral Officer, such as making polling stations more accessible to electors.

For more information, please contact:

Elections Canada
257 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0M6

Telephone

1 800 463-6868
toll-free in Canada and the United States

001 800 514-6868
toll-free in Mexico

(613) 993-2975
from anywhere in the world

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing:
TTY 1 800 361-8935
toll-free in Canada and the United States

Fax

(613) 954-8584
1 888 524-1444
toll-free in Canada and the United States

This publication is available in alternative formats.

September 2002