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2. Information Campaign for ElectorsReport on the 2020 By-elections

Objectives of the campaign

During the by-elections, Elections Canada ran a Voter Information Campaign designed to provide electors with all the information they needed on where, when and the ways to register and vote, and the safety measures in place. The multimedia campaign included paid advertisements in radio, print and digital formats; organic and paid social media; information on elections.ca; a public enquiries unit; direct mail; outreach to specific groups of electors; and media relations.

Multimedia campaign

The multimedia campaign included advertisements on 15 radio stations as well as on Spotify, in 6 daily and weekly publications, and through out-of-home elements such as digital screens in residential buildings and digital billboards. The Voter Information Campaign was also highly visible on several digital platforms, including social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google) and multiple websites.

The campaign had four phases with distinct focuses: registration, voter information card awareness, early voting options and election day. It also positioned Elections Canada as the official source of information on registering and voting and directed electors to elections.ca and to the agency's toll-free number for additional information. A complementary campaign provided information on the health and safety measures that were in place to ensure electors could register and cast their vote safely.

Social media

Elections Canada used social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube) to share information and digital products about where, when and the ways to register and vote.

The agency also used its Twitter and Facebook accounts to respond to questions from the public. Popular topics included ways to vote and pandemic-related safety measures.

  • Elections Canada's corporate social media accounts received 388 questions and comments about the Toronto Centre and York Centre by-elections.
  • Between September 18 and November 2, 2020, we responded to 91 enquiries related to the by-elections through our social media channels.

These statistics were captured for the first time for the 2020 by-elections and will continue to be reported in future elections.

Website

As in past elections, the Elections Canada website prominently featured a by-election section explaining the various ways to vote, offering two online services to help electors find the information they needed to be ready to vote and providing other details about voting. Electors could use the Online Voter Registration Service to register or check whether their information was correct. Electors could also enter their postal code into the Voter Information Service to learn who the candidates for their electoral district were, where and when they could vote, and the accessibility features of their polling place. The website also provided information about voter eligibility, safety measures in place at local offices and voting locations, and identification requirements for voting.

All told, there were 735,307 visits to the website during the 2020 by-election period, 149,037 of which were on the by-elections pages. This represents an increase from the 473,593 visits to the main website during the previous federal by-election, held in Nanaimo–Ladysmith on May 6, 2019.

Live election results were published on the website as ballots were counted. On election night, there were 45,430 visits to the Election Night Results application and 48,788 visits the next day. These numbers show an increased interest in these by-elections relative to the previous by-election (held in May 2019 for a single electoral district), which generated 14,316 visits on election night.

Enquiries from electors

Elections Canada's Public Enquiries Unit responds to calls and emails from electors on a variety of topics, such as registration, polling place location, accessibility, identification requirements and voting procedures (including COVID-19 precautions and safety measures). Agents in the Public Enquiries Unit at Elections Canada headquarters responded to 1,036 enquiries about the by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre, while Elections Canada offices in the electoral districts handled 9,213 enquiries. These figures represent an increase of approximately 100% over those of the 2019 by-elections.

During the by-election period, we received a small number of calls and emails about COVID-19 measures and voting by mail:

  • 20 enquiries related to COVID-19 measures
  • 14 enquiries related to Special Voting Rules (voting by mail)

Direct mail

Elections Canada mailed voter information cards (VICs) to electors whose names appeared on the preliminary lists of electors in Toronto Centre and York Centre. The VIC tells electors when and where they can vote at advance polls and on election day, describes other voting options, gives them basic information on the accessibility of their polling place and points them to the Elections Canada website for more detailed accessibility information.

Shortly before the advance polls opened, Elections Canada also sent all households in each electoral district a guide to the federal by-election with information about voter eligibility, registration, ways to vote, identification requirements (including information about accepted pieces of identification), safety measures, accessibility of polling locations, and voting assistance tools and services available on election day. The guide also prompted electors to contact Elections Canada if they had not received a VIC.

Number of VICs and guides sent during the 2020 by-elections
Electoral district Number of VICs sent Number of guides sent
Toronto Centre 81,228 66,389
York Centre 69,902 34,488

Community relations and outreach

As part of Elections Canada's outreach efforts to groups that often face greater barriers to voting, returning officers were asked to determine whether a community relations officer should be appointed based on the demographics and needs in their electoral district.

Five community relations officers were appointed in Toronto Centre and two in York Centre. To protect the health and safety of electors and election workers during the pandemic, community relations officers distributed information products digitally and liaised with organizations or facilities providing services to electors known to face particular barriers to the electoral process.1

Media relations

Elections Canada's Media Relations handled approximately 40 media requests regarding the York Centre and Toronto Centre by-elections. Most enquiries focused on the administrative changes put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency issued 13 news releases related to these two by-elections. News releases are an important component of our efforts to reach out to and inform the public through traditional media. For the 2020 by-elections, the topics of ways to vote and special COVID-19–related measures were central to our media relations efforts.

Footnotes

1 Community relations officers work with local organizations to assist electors known to face barriers when participating in the electoral process. These include students, seniors, electors with disabilities and Indigenous, homeless and ethnocultural electors. Community relations officers provide information on when, where and the ways to register and vote and on the tools and services available to electors.