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4. Voting ServicesReport on the 2020 By-elections

Electors can cast their ballot at their assigned advance polling station during one of the four designated days, at their assigned polling station on election day, by special ballot at an Elections Canada office or by mail. Other voting methods are also available for residents of long-term care facilities and seniors' residences and for incarcerated electors.

Polling places

For the by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre, the returning officers established 26 polling stations at 15 polling places for the advance polls and 256 polling stations at 87 polling places on election day. One mobile polling station visited 2 establishments.

Given that returning officers were not able to rent many of the locations typically used as polling places and the difficulty in securing new locations, there were fewer polling places and polling stations compared with previous elections. Many polling divisions were merged together, which reduced the number of polling stations, thus allowing enough space for physical distancing around each polling station. Table 5 in the Appendix breaks down the number of polling stations and polling places for each electoral district.

Across the two electoral districts in the 2020 by-elections, 85 of the 87 polling places met the 15 mandatory accessibility criteria.

Voting

Voting at assigned advance and election day polling places

In Toronto Centre and York Centre, the majority of voters (more than 64%) chose to cast their ballot at their polling station on election day. Approximately 33% voted at the advance polls. These turnout numbers help confirm a continuing upward trend of electors choosing to vote in advance of election day.

Voting by mail or at an Elections Canada office

Under the Special Voting Rules provisions of the Canada Elections Act, electors who are in their electoral district during an election can also vote by mail or in person at any Elections Canada office. Canadians temporarily outside their electoral district or living abroad can apply online for a special ballot voting kit to be mailed to them.

In past by-elections, very few electors voting from within their electoral district under the Special Voting Rules opted to vote by mail, choosing instead to vote in person at their local Elections Canada office. In the 2020 by-elections, there was a significant increase in uptake for the vote-by-mail option. In Toronto Centre, 182 electors voted by mail compared to 190 who voted in person at the local office. In York Centre, more electors voted by mail than in person at the local Elections Canada office (216 by mail and 211 in person). This is likely due to the pandemic context, which may have pushed some electors to avoid in-person transactions.

For every by-election, Elections Canada communicates with its partners in the Canadian Armed Forces, at Correctional Service Canada and at Global Affairs Canada to disseminate information and registration materials to Canadian Forces electors, incarcerated electors and electors residing outside Canada whose address of ordinary residence is in the electoral district.

In the 2020 by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre, a total of 1,151 electors voted by special ballot. This represents 2.64% of the electors who voted, compared with 3.6% in the 2019 general election. In the Appendix, Table 6 breaks down the vote by category for each electoral district. Table 7 breaks down special ballot voting.

On September 21, 2020, the Chief Electoral Officer made new Special Voting Rules as Adapted for the Purposes of a By-election to reflect the changes made in 2018 by Parliament to the Special Voting Rules applicable to general elections. During the by-elections, the Chief Electoral Officer also issued instructions addressing issues with the Special Voting Rules process or filling gaps in the Rules that would prevent electors who are otherwise qualified to vote from casting their ballot. For more information, see Table 12 – Instructions issued pursuant to subsection 178(2) and section 179 of the Canada Elections Act.

Voter turnout

For the 2020 by-elections, 43,547 registered electors voted in Toronto Centre and York Centre.

In the Appendix, Table 8 shows turnout by electoral district and compares turnout rates with those for the 2019 general election. Historically, voter turnout in by-elections is lower than in general elections. The turnout rate for the 2020 by-elections was generally in line with other by-elections. An estimated 29% of eligible electors voted during the two federal by-elections, compared to turnout rates ranging from 20% to 41% for the federal by-elections held in 2019.

Projects enabled by IT Services

During the 43rd general election, Elections Canada deployed new field telephony systems and introduced an online case management system to enhance services to field staff and candidates. Both systems were used extensively during the 2020 by-elections.