The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, sees great strides in the draft bill of the Election Act for Québec electors. Me Blanchet was speaking today before the Select National Assembly Committee on the Election Act. The Chief Electoral Officer, who was the first person to be heard, first made some comments about the measures affecting the exercise of the right to vote and the right to run in an election.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec has proposed various measures to improve access to polling at the time of elections. The proposals made by the Chief Electoral Officer seek, in particular, to facilitate the exercise of the right to vote for electors who would like to take advantage of advance polling, who would be outside their electoral division on polling day or who would have difficulty going to a polling station. These measures are found in a report tabled today in the National Assembly and that could serve as a basis for amendments to the Election Act.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec proposes that elections henceforth be held on Sunday rather than on Monday in order to improve services to electors and to facilitate the organization of the poll. This proposal is among a series of measures intended to improve access to and promote the exercise of voting. It is found in a report tabled today in the National Assembly.
The Chief Electoral Officer considers that a concerted plan of action should be adopted and implemented by all of the stakeholders concerned by the decline in voter turnout among young people. In a report that was tabled today in the National Assembly, the Chief Electoral Officer proposes a series of measures likely to promote the participation of certain groups of electors. These measures could serve as a basis for amendments to the Election Act.
A study commissioned by the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec and carried out at the time of the April 14, 2003 general election concludes that the current mechanisms for identifying electors work well, ensure that the Election Act is respected and satisfy both electors and election officers. This analysis, carried out by Sogémap inc., was tabled today in the National Assembly and follows the recommendations made by the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec in November 2001, in a feasibility study on the implementation of a digitized elector's card bearing a photo.
Many of you will soon be mailed a form from the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec. This form will help create a permanent list of electors of Québec. And as such, it must be completed. The form will be used to verify information such as your family name, first name and address. Again, this information must be provided or corrected.
Québec will soon have a permanent list of electors that will be used for provincial, municipal and school polls. Indeed, the Act to establish the permanent list of electors, which was adopted on June 15th, entrusts the Chief Electoral Officer with the mandate of drawing up the permanent list of electors through the constitution of a register of electors and a register of territories, following the enumeration that will take place from September 5 to 10, 1995.
Close to 700 municipalities of Québec, which will be holding elections on November 5, 1995, will be able to use the list of electors resulting from the upcoming enumeration instead of making an enumeration of the electors domiciled on their territory. Pierre-F. Côté, Q.C., Chief Electoral Officer, emphasized that 599 municipalities have requested this list to date.
