Appendix B – Overview of obligations and prohibitions under the CEA (04/2023)

1. knowingly obstruct an election officer in the exercise of his or her powers or the performance of his or her duties;
2. without authority, use identification simulating that used by an election officer or intended to replace that prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer for that purpose; or
3. having been removed or replaced as an election officer, fail to return any election documents or election materials in his or her possession to the returning officer or to an authorized person.

1. wilfully apply to be included in a list of electors in a name that is not his or her own;
2. wilfully apply, except as authorized by this Act, to be included in a list of electors for a polling division if he or she is already included in a list of electors for another polling division, which list was prepared for use at the same election;
3. wilfully apply, except as authorized by this Act, to be included in a list of electors for a polling division in which the person is not ordinarily resident;
4. apply to have included in a list of electors for an electoral district the name of a person, knowing that the person is not qualified as an elector or entitled to vote in the electoral district;
   • d.1 compel, induce or attempt to compel or induce any other person to make a false or misleading statement relating to that other person's qualification as an elector for the purposes of the inclusion of that other person's name in a list of electors;
5. wilfully apply to have included in a list of electors the name of an animal or thing; or
6. knowingly use personal information that is recorded in a list of electors for a purpose other than:
   • (i) to enable registered parties, eligible parties, members or candidates to communicate with electors, in accordance with section 110, or
   • (ii) for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act or the Referendum Act.

1. The returning officer shall, as soon as possible after 2:00 p.m. on the 19th day before polling day, authorize the printing of a sufficient number of ballots in Form 3 of Schedule 1.
2. Ballots shall have a counterfoil and a stub, with a line of perforations between the ballot and the counterfoil and between the counterfoil and the stub.
3. The ballots shall be numbered on the back of the stub and the counterfoil, and the same number shall be printed on the stub as on the counterfoil.
4. Ballots shall be in books containing an appropriate number of ballots.
5. Each printer shall return all of the ballots and all of the unused paper on which the ballots were to have been printed, to the returning officer.
6. Ballots shall bear the name of the printer who, on delivering them to the returning officer, shall include an affidavit in the prescribed form that sets out a description of the ballots, the number of ballots delivered to the returning officer and the fact that all ballots were provided, and all paper returned, as required by subsection (5).

1. forge a ballot;
2. without authority under this Act, print a ballot or what purports to be or is capable of being used as a ballot at an election;
3. being authorized under this Act to print a ballot, knowingly print more ballot papers than the person is authorized to print;
4. print a ballot or what purports to be or is capable of being used as a ballot at an election with the intention of causing the reception of a vote that should not have been cast or the non-reception of a vote that should have been cast; or
5. manufacture, import into Canada, have in possession, supply to an election officer, or use for the purpose of an election, or cause to be manufactured, imported into Canada, provided to an election officer, or used for the purposes of an election, a ballot box that contains a compartment into which a ballot may be secretly placed or a device by which a ballot may be secretly altered.

1. No employer may make a deduction from the pay of an employee, or impose a penalty, for the time that the employer shall allow for voting under subsection 132(1).
2. An employer who pays an employee less than the amount that the employee would have earned on polling day, had the employee continued to work during the time referred to in subsection 132(2) that the employer allowed for voting, is deemed to have made a deduction from the pay of the employee, regardless of the basis on which the employee is paid.

1. shall not take any photograph or make any audio or video recording at a polling station; and
2. shall not, if he or she uses a communications device at a polling station, impede any elector from exercising their right to vote or violate the secrecy of the vote.

1. post or display in, or on the exterior surface of, a polling place any campaign literature or other material that could be taken as an indication of support for or opposition to a political party that is listed on the ballot under the name of a candidate or the election of a candidate; and
2. while in a polling station, wear any emblem, flag, banner or other thing that indicates that the person supports or opposes any candidate or political party that is listed on the ballot under the name of a candidate, or the political or other opinions entertained, or supposed to be entertained, by the candidate or party; and

2. Despite paragraph (1)(b), a representative of a candidate in a polling station may, in the manner authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer, wear a badge identifying his or her function and the name of the political party that is listed on the ballot under the name of the candidate.

1. vote or attempt to vote at an election knowing that he or she
   • (i) is not a Canadian citizen when he or she votes, or
   • (ii) is not 18 years of age or older — or will not be 18 years of age or older — on polling day; or
2. induce or attempt to induce another person to vote at an election knowing that the other person
   • (i) is not a Canadian citizen — or will not be a Canadian citizen — when he or she votes, or
   • (ii) is not 18 years of age or older — or will not be 18 years of age or older — on polling day.

• (1) Every person present at a polling station or at the counting of the votes shall maintain the secrecy of the vote.

Attempting to obtain information about elector's vote

• (2) Except as provided by this Act, no person shall, in a polling station, attempt to obtain any information as to the candidate for whom any elector is about to vote or has voted.

Secrecy at the poll

• (3) Except as provided by this Act, no person shall
  • (a) on entering the polling station and before receiving a ballot or special ballot, openly declare for whom he or she intends to vote;
  • (b) while in the polling station, show his or her ballot or special ballot, when marked, so as to allow the name of the candidate for whom he or she has voted to be seen; or
  • (c) before leaving the polling station, openly declare for whom he or she has voted.

Secrecy — marked ballot

• (4) No person who has seen a ballot or special ballot that has been marked by an elector shall disclose information as to how it was marked unless he or she is the elector who marked it or he or she has been authorized to make the disclosure by the elector who marked it.

Secrecy — counting of the votes

• (5) No person shall, at the counting of the votes, attempt to obtain information or communicate information obtained at the counting as to the candidate for whom a vote is given in a particular ballot or special ballot.

(1) No person shall

1. request or apply for a ballot or special ballot in a name that is not his or her own;
2. vote using a forged ballot or forged special ballot;
3. request or apply for a ballot or special ballot to which he or she is not entitled;
4. provide a ballot or special ballot to any person when not authorized under this Act to do so;
5. have a ballot or special ballot in his or her possession when not authorized under this Act to do so;
6. alter, deface or destroy a ballot, the initials of the election officer that are signed on a ballot or the number of the polling division or advance polling district that is marked on a ballot;
7. put or cause to be put into a ballot box a ballot, special ballot or other paper otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer;
8. take a ballot out of the polling station or the office of the returning officer otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer; or
9. destroy, take, open or otherwise interfere with a ballot box or book or packet of ballots or special ballots otherwise than as provided by this Act or by instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

Ballots — election officer

(2) No election officer shall

1. with the intent of causing the reception of a vote that should not have been cast or the non-reception of a vote that should have been cast, put his or her initials on the back of any paper purporting to be or capable of being used as a ballot at an election; or
2. place on a ballot or special ballot any writing, number or mark with intent that the elector to whom the ballot or special ballot is to be given, or has been given, can be identified.

Special ballots — unit election officer

(3) No unit election officer shall place on a special ballot any writing, number or mark with intent that the elector to whom the special ballot is to be given, or has been given, can be identified.

(1) No person shall vouch for more than one person at an election, except in the cases referred to in subsections 143(3.01), 161(2) and 169(2.01).

Voucher not qualified as elector, etc.

(2) No person shall vouch for another person if

1. the person who vouches is not qualified as an elector;
2. the person who vouches does not personally know the other person; or
3. the person who vouches does not reside in a polling division assigned to the same polling station as the polling division in which the other person resides or, in the cases referred to in subsections 143(3.01), 161(2) and 169(2.01), in a polling division in the other person's electoral district or an adjacent electoral district.

Vouchee acting as voucher

(3) No person who has been vouched for at an election shall vouch for another person at that election.

(1) No person shall, during an election period, directly or indirectly, offer a bribe to influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election.

Accepting bribe

(2) No person shall, during an election period, accept or agree to accept a bribe that is offered to them to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at the election.

1. by intimidation or duress, compel or attempt to compel a person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election; or
2. by any pretence or contrivance, including by representing that the ballot or special ballot or the manner of voting at an election is not secret, influence or attempt to influence a person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or registered party, at an election.

Exception
ss. 289(4)

The two or more election officers who are specified in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer's instructions may begin counting the votes cast at an advance poll one hour before the close of voting hours on polling day if

1. the returning officer who is responsible for the advance polling station has obtained the Chief Electoral Officer's prior approval for the counting to begin;
2. the counting is done in accordance with the Chief Electoral Officer's instructions;
3. the counting is done in a manner that ensures the integrity of the vote; and
4. the counting is done in the presence of any candidates or their representatives who are present or, if no candidates or representatives are present, at least two electors.

• the prevention or impairment, by a public authority, of an unlawful transmission if reasonable notice has first been given to the person who authorized the transmission; or
• the removal by an employee of a public authority of a sign, poster or banner where the posting of it is a hazard to public safety.

Public meetings

(2) Every person is guilty of an offence who, at any time between the issue of a writ and the day after polling day at the election, acts, incites others to act or conspires to act in a disorderly manner with the intention of preventing the transaction of the business of a public meeting called for the purposes of the election.

1. the Chief Electoral Officer, a member of the Chief Electoral Officer's staff or a person who is authorized to act on the Chief Electoral Officer's behalf;
2. an election officer or a person who is authorized to act on an election officer's behalf;
3. a person who is authorized to act on behalf of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer;
4. a person who is authorized to act on behalf of a registered party or a registered association; or
5. a candidate or a person who is authorized to act on a candidate's behalf.