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Returning Officers Post-Mortem Sessions 41st General Election

8 – Special Voting Rules

8.1 – Special ballot coordinator (SBC) Self-training – pre-writ task

Returning officers all agreed that having some special ballot coordinators trained prior to the opening of the office was very useful and beneficial. They were able to assist in the office setup, and were better prepared to deal with electors upon the opening of the RO office, since once the writ is dropped there is no time for training. This task should definitely be repeated for the next General Election. The self-training also allowed for identification of strengths and weaknesses, and it gives time to correct weaknesses, permitting the SBC to get good results on tests, and resulting in a reduction in errors and more confidence on the part of the SBC. It was also very useful for ROs without experience and a good refresher for those with experience, they recommended that other positions in the RO office be trained in the same manner (include all SBCs if more than two, ARO and AARO).

There is a strong recommendation to develop more Web-based training, and more tools like a manual, tests to be completed and a checklist for the SBCs. It is suggested that this task be done one month in advance, so it is important to ensure that all tools are sent in a timely manner.

Special ballot process in local EC offices

The self training tools worked really well, as did the cross training of duties. The checklist was good, and some ROs would like one for hospital voting.

There is a need to improve the interaction between SVR and revision; having the SBC office next to the revision office worked really well, as did having the revision agent fill out the forms for the special ballot. Some ROs suggest that the process be extended and available at the office until polling day. Returning officers feel there is a need to better define what criteria determine the need for home visits, and screen carefully those who request it – which is especially difficult when it is a family member making the request. For home visits, tough time constraints need to be respected and geography is a challenge, as is traffic, parking, and ferry scheduling. A good solution would be to do it around shift changes, to save hours and time.

Most ROs say that they used the printable list of candidates from the Website to ensure that a correct list was available to SVR electors. ROs mention that, sometimes, there were difficulties in finding the correct ED for rural addresses; there were also concerns with having the correct address and postal code as the Website postal code search is not always accurate. For ROs, training is a key element to ensuring that an application form is completed in full.

Voting by Special Ballot for electors in acute care hospitals

The training went well for hospital SBCs, and the manuals were a great help. There was a good collaboration with administrators and outreach was successful. Some ROs mentioned that it is a challenge when the patient is not in the room, or sleeping when the SBC passes by. Another challenge was that there were an insufficient number of teams to go into large facilities. ROs mentioned that for the guide and street indexes, there is too much material to carry, and they are heavy. Some ROs did not use them and called the revision desk in the office instead. Others used a cart or a rolling suitcase to carry the material. A suggestion would be to have the information put on a laptop.