Difference between revisions of "The Right to Vote (5:VII)"

Canadian citizens who are 18 years of age or older on election day are generally eligible to vote in federal elections (s 3). Under the  statute, persons can be disqualified from voting for a variety of reasons (e.g., for incarceration or for corrupt or illegal practices).  

However, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the prohibition preventing inmates from voting in ''Sauve v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer)'', 2002 SCC 68. A key consideration in this decision was that, by denying the vote to all prisoners, the Act failed to balance the right to vote against the seriousness of the conduct of prisoners. The Federal Court of Canada has held that people with mental disabilities do have the right to vote: see ''Canadian Disability Rights Council v Canada'', [1988] 3 FC 622.  

While federal residency requirements do exist, they are more relaxed than those applicable to BC provincial elections. A person may vote only  once, in the area in which she is “ordinarily resident”. This is defined in much the same way as “resident” is defined in section 32 of BC’s ''Election Act''. A person who moves between the enumerator’s visit and the day of the election could be forced to vote in the former riding if ordinarily resident there when the enumeration occurred.  

 

All voters must present one piece of government-issued ID with a photograph and residential address before being allowed to vote. If a voter cannot provide the required photo ID, he or she may still be allowed to vote if he or she does one of two things (s 143):  

#provides two pieces of identification that establishes the voter's name, and then establishes his or her residence by swearing an oath in  writing that attests to where they live. The voter must also be accompanied by an individual who is '''registered to vote in the same polling division''', has '''proper identification''', and vouches for the person without ID under oath and in the prescribed form. An individual can only vouch for one person at an election, and an individual who has been vouched for cannot vouch for someone else.   

The provisions relating to vouching, as described above, were brought into force by the ''Fair Elections Act'' on December 2014.  Under the new provisions, voters who have identification but cannot prove residence will be allowed to sign an oath attesting to where they live, which must then be corroborated by the oath of another voter.  However, this leaves voters who have no identification whatsoever with little recourse.  This controversial measure could significantly inhibit the ability of low-income citizens and students to vote.   

The constitutionality of these requirements was challenged in the British Columbia Supreme Court and the BC Court of Appeal in ''Henry v Canada (Attorney General)'', 2014 BCCA 30. In that case, the court found that the legislation was inconsistent with the electoral rights guaranteed in section 3 of the ''Charter'', but constituted a reasonable limit prescribed by law and was demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society under section 1 of the ''Charter''. In Ontario, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students have challenged this legislation in the Ontario Superior Court on the grounds that it violates section 3 of the ''Charter''.

| address = Chief Electoral Officer <br /> 257 Slater Street <br /> Ottawa, Ontario K1A OM6