Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of the Halifax Needham By-Election August 30, 2016
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of the Halifax Needham By-Election August 30, 2016 Volume I: Statement of Votes and Statistics Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of the Halifax Needham By-Election August 30, 2016 Volume I: Statement of Votes and Statistics Published by the Chief Electoral Officer January 6, 2017 Elections Nova Scotia • 7037 Mumford Road, Suite 6, Halifax, NS, B3L 2J1 • PO Box 2246, Halifax, NS, B3J 3C8 902-424-8584 • 1-800-565-1504 • 902-424-7475 (TTY) • electionsnovascotia.ca • [email protected] January 6, 2017 The Honourable Kevin Murphy Speaker of the House of Assembly Province of Nova Scotia 1726 Hollis Street, Province House Halifax, NS B3J 2Y3 Dear Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present “Volume 1” of the report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the proceedings of the Halifax Needham By-election, held on August 30, 2016. I respectfully request that you table this report to the House of Assembly at the next sitting. This report is submitted to the House of Assembly in accordance with Section 163 of the Elections Act. Respectfully submitted, Richard Temporale, Chief Electoral Officer ii ELECTIONS NOVA SCOTIA Table of Contents Introduction. 1 Electoral Geography . 2 Electoral District. .2 Polling Stations . .2 By-election Results . .3 Halifax Needham . 3 Number of Seats in the House of Assembly. 3 Voting Opportunities. 4 Write-in Ballots . .4 Returning Office Poll. 4 Advance Polls. .4 Election Day Polls. 5 Mobile Polls. 5 Rejected Ballots. .6 Elector Participation . 7 Elector Registration. .7 Voter Turnout over 10 years . 8 Early Voter Turnout over 10 years . .10 Registered Parties. 12 Registered Parties Expense Limits . .12 Candidate Expense Limits . .12 Changes in Effect for the Halifax Needham By-election . 13 Legislative Change–Commencement of By-elections. .13 Voter Information Card Improvement. .13 Write-in ballot design Improvement. 14 Selfie Stations. .14 Scrutineers allowed photographic devices. 15 Compliance. 16 Chief Electoral Officer Recommendations. 17 Newspaper Advertising Requirements. .17 Update: Communications Nova Scotia Election Advertising Policy. 10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE HALIFAX NEEDHAM BY-ELECTION • VOL 1 iii Appendix Appendix A • Letter from Chief Electoral Officer to Registered Parties, June 2, 2016 . .19 Appendix B • By-Election Calendar, Halifax Needham August 30, 2016. .21 Appendix C • Maps & Poll-by-Poll Results for Electoral District of Halifax Needham By-election August 30, 2016. 24 Appendix D • By-election Brochure August 30, 2016. 27 List of Tables and Figures Table 1 • Number of Polling Stations by Type . 2 Table 2 • Summary of Votes Received by Candidate Halifax Needham . 3 Table 3 • Rejected Ballot Analysis. 6 Table 4 • Number of Electors and Voters by Age. 7 Table 5 • Voter Turnout in By-Elections - 10 Years . 8 Table 6 • Early Voter Turnout In By-Elections 10 Years . 10 Table 7 • Candidate Election Expense Limit. 12 Figure 1 • Percentage Votes Cast by Voting Opportunity. 5 Figure 2 • Halifax Needham Voter Participation . 8 Figure 3 • Voter Turnout in By-elections – 10 Years . .9 Figure 4 • Early Voter Turnout in By-elections 10 years. 11 Abbreviations CEO Chief Electoral Officer CPI Consumer Price Index EDA Electoral District Association ENS Elections Nova Scotia GPNS Green Party of Nova Scotia NSNDP Nova Scotia New Democratic Party AP Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia NSLP Nova Scotia Liberal Party PC Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia Tariff Tariff of Fees and Expenses iv ELECTIONS NOVA SCOTIA Introduction The resignation of the Honourable Maureen MacDonald, representing the electoral district of Halifax Needham, created a vacancy in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly effective April 12th, 2016. On June 2nd, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) wrote to the leaders of the registered parties informing them that under the authority vested in him by section 5(r) of the Elections Act, he would invoke his power to have the amendments under Bill 162 be in force and effect for the upcoming by-election in Halifax Needham on the grounds that without such action, there would needlessly be both confusion and legal consequences for all of the major stakeholders involved in the electoral process. A copy of this letter is shown in Appendix A. On Saturday, July 30th, pursuant to an Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, a writ of election was issued under the Elections Act by the CEO to Ron Skibbens, the returning officer for the electoral district of Halifax Needham, ordering that an election be held on August 30th. The CEO published an election calendar, a copy of which is shown in Appendix B. The calendar counts downward from the day the writ was issued, Saturday, July 30th, 31 days before election day, to ten days after election day, Friday, September 9th, the earliest date for the return of the writ of election. The calendar also identifies key filing dates for the official agents of the four candidates contesting the election. At the time of the by-election call, the distribution of seats by registered parties in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly was: 34 members from the Nova Scotia Liberal Party (NSLP); 10 from the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia (PC); five from the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NSNDP); one independent member and one vacancy. Nominations closed on Wednesday, August 10th. Four candidates stood for election one each from the Green Party of Nova Scotia (GP), the NSLP, the NSNDP, and PC parties. Early voting opportunities commenced within five days of issuing the writ, on Thursday August 4th. This was the first day the returning office was open to the public and electors could apply to vote by write-in ballot. The continuous poll in the returning office was offered every day excluding Sundays from the day the office opened to the public, August 4th through to the close of polls on election day, 8:00pm, August 30th. As well, two advance polls were offered for seven days, August 20th through August 27th, instead of only two days, Friday and Saturday before election day, as specified by theAct prior to 2016. Electors could choose which advance poll they voted at; a first under the changes to the Act that came into effect on January 1, 2016. At the close of polls on election day, a total of 4,967 electors (32.0%) of the 15,372 electors on the final list of electors in Halifax Needham had voted. On Thursday, September 1st, Lisa Roberts, NDP was determined to have the most votes cast at the Official Addition. Lisa Roberts was declared elected with the return of the completed writ of election on Friday, September 9th. PROCEEDINGS OF THE HALIFAX NEEDHAM BY-ELECTION • VOL 1 1 Electoral Geography Electoral District The boundaries for the electoral district of Halifax Needham were enacted in 2012 under the House of Assembly Act on the recommendation of the Nova Scotia Electoral Boundaries Commission. A map displaying the electoral district boundaries, polling divisions and voting location catchment areas is shown in Appendix C. Polling Stations In Halifax Needham there were 40 different voting opportunities offered to electors. There was a continuous poll and a write-in ballot poll held at the returning office throughout the writ period, two advance polls at separate locations and 34 election day polling stations at nine locations plus two mobile polls servicing Northwood Manor and Northwood Centre. Table 1 • Number of Polling Stations by Type / Halifax Needham Number of Polling Stations by Type Election Day Mobile Continuous Write-in ballot Advance Total 34 2 1 1 2 40 2 ELECTIONS NOVA SCOTIA By-election Results Halifax Needham On return of the writ to the Chief Electoral Officer, the returning officer for Halifax Needham Centre, Ron Skibbens, declared Lisa Roberts (NSNDP) elected. A summary of valid votes received by candidate is shown in Table 2. The poll-by-poll results are shown in Appendix C. Table 2 • Summary of Votes Received by Candidate Halifax Needham By- election August 30, 2016 Candidate Registered Party Votes Received Andy Arsenault PC 600 Lisa Roberts NSNDP 2,519 Thomas Trappenberg GPNS 161 Rod Wilson NSLP 1,666 Number of Seats in the House of Assembly At the conclusion of the Halifax Needham by-election the distribution of seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly was: 34 NSLP; 10 PC, 6 NSNDP; and one independent member. PROCEEDINGS OF THE HALIFAX NEEDHAM BY-ELECTION • VOL 1 3 Voting Opportunities Write-in Ballots Electors were entitled to vote by write-in ballot. There were four methods by which an elector could apply for a write-in ballot: by mail, by agent, by write-in ballot coordinator, or in person. As shown in the poll-by-poll results in Appendix C a total of 103 electors voted by write-in ballot. By comparison, 279 electors voted by write-in ballot in this district during the 2013 provincial general election. Applications for a write-in ballot were available to all electors upon the opening of the returning offices on August 4th. The deadlines in subsection 101(3) of the Act, to apply for a write-in ballot as shown on the Election Calendar in Appendix B were day 10 (August 20) by mail and day 0 or election day (August 30) by agent or write-in ballot coordinator. These deadlines are administrative necessities imposed to ensure there is sufficient time for the application process to be completed and approved and subsequently, for the ballots to be delivered, completed and returned for counting by the close of polls at 8 pm on election day. Returning Office Poll A returning office continuous poll was available every day, except Sundays from the opening of the returning office on August 4th through August 30th election day.