Financial Information & Statistics Volume II 38th Provincial General Election June 9, 2009 Published by the Chief Electoral Officer March 2010 Errata Page 4-1 Electoral District Party Candidate Official Agent Filing Date 05 Cape Breton Centre NSLP Joe MACPHERSON Sheldon Syms December 18, 2009 March 5, 2010 The Honourable Charlie Parker Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Province of Nova Scotia 1726 Hollis Street, Province House Halifax, NS B3J 2Y3 Dear Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present Volume II of the report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the proceedings of the 38th Nova Scotia Provincial General Election held on June 9, 2009. Volume I entitled Statement of Votes & Statistics was published in September, 2009 and provided a summary of election results and detailed statistics on the vote. This volume entitled Financial Information & Statistics provides information related to candidate and recognized political party election expenses, reimbursement of candidate election expenses and election administration costs. Comparative statistics are provided where available and appropriate. I respectfully request that you submit Volume II of this report to the House of Assembly as early as possible during the upcoming spring sitting. This report is submitted to the House of Assembly in accordance with section 171 of the Elections Act. Respectfully submitted, Christine McCulloch, Q.C. Chief Electoral Officer Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables ............................................................... iii Abbreviations............................................................... v 1. Introduction ............................................................ 1-1 2. Changes to Electoral Finance Legislation ..................................... 2-1 3. Recognized Parties ..................................................... 3-1 3.1 Spending Limits, Reporting and Public Funding ......................... 3-1 3.1.1 Recognized Party Election Expenses Spending Limits .............. 3-1 3.1.2 Recognized Party Election Expenses Reporting ................... 3-3 3.1.3 Recognized Party Public Funding .............................. 3-3 4. Candidates ............................................................ 4-1 4.1 Appointment of the Official Agent .................................... 4-1 4.2 Responsibilities of the Official Agent .................................. 4-6 4.3 Candidate Election Expenses Spending Limits .......................... 4-7 4.4 Candidate Reimbursement ......................................... 4-9 4.4.1 Candidate Nomination Deposit ................................. 4-9 4.4.2 Candidate Audit Fee ......................................... 4-9 4.1.3 Candidate Election Expenses .................................. 4-9 4.5 Summary of Candidate Election Expenses and Reimbursements .......... 4-10 5. Returning Offices ....................................................... 5-1 5.1 Establishing Returning Offices ...................................... 5-1 5.2 Returning Office Staffing........................................... 5-1 5.3 Returning Office Costs ............................................ 5-1 i Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 5.3.1 Returning Office Direct Costs.................................. 5-1 5.3.2 Returning Office Indirect Costs................................. 5-2 5.3.3 Categorized Returning Office Costs ............................. 5-3 6. Cost per Elector ........................................................ 6-1 ii Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3-1: Recognized Party Election Expenses Limits, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election ........................................................... 3-1 Table 3-2: Recognized Party Election Expenses, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election.................................................................. 3-3 Table 3-3: Recognized Party Public Funding (comparative: 2006 and 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Elections) ................................................ 3-3 Table 4-1: Candidates, Official Agents and Report Filing Date, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election .................................................. 4-1 Table 4-2: Reporting Requirements of the Official Agent of a Candidate, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election ............................................. 4-7 Table 4-3: Candidate Election Expenses Spending Limit, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election ........................................................... 4-7 Table 4-4: Candidate Election Expenses Reimbursement Limit, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election .................................................. 4-9 Table 4-5: Categorized Candidate Election Expenses, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election .......................................................... 4-11 Table 4-6: Summary of Candidate Election Expenses and Reimbursements, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election ....................................... 4-22 Table 5-1: Returning Office Direct Costs, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election.................................................................. 5-1 Table 5-2: Returning Office Indirect Costs, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election.................................................................. 5-2 iii Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 LIST OF TABLES Table 5-3: Categorized Returning Office Costs, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election.................................................................. 5-4 Table 6-1: Summary of Total Election Costs, June 9, 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election.................................................................. 6-1 Table 6-2: Cost per Elector (comparative: 2006 and 2009 Nova Scotia Provincial General Elections)................................................................ 6-3 iv Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 ABBREVIATIONS CEO Chief Electoral Officer CPI Nova Scotia Consumer Price Index ENS Elections Nova Scotia GPNS Green Party of Nova Scotia MPEDA Members and Public Employees Disclosure Act NDP Nova Scotia New Democratic Party NSLP Nova Scotia Liberal Party PC The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia Regulations Political Contributions Disclosure Regulations Tariff Tariff of Fees and Expenses v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Financial Information & Statistics, Nova Scotia Provincial General Election, 2009 1. Introduction The report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the proceedings of the 38th Nova Scotia Provincial General Election held on June 9, 2009 is presented in two volumes. Volume I, Statement of Votes & Statistics published in September, 2009 provides the recapitulation on the election, identifies elected members, official agents and senior election officers, summarizes election results and provides detailed results and statistics by voting area (poll by poll results) as well as by candidate gender and historically by election. Volume II of the report, Financial Information & Statistics published in March, 2010 following completion of accounts, provides financial information on election expenses, candidate reimbursement, election administration costs and financial and comparative statistics. On May 5, 2009, at the request of Premier Rodney MacDonald, the Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Mayann E. Francis, dissolved the Legislative Assembly. An Order in Council directed the Chief Electoral Officer to issue the writs of election to all 52 electoral districts, ordering that the 38th Nova Scotia Provincial General Election be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. No candidates being returned by acclamation, a poll was held in all electoral districts. At the time of dissolution there were 4 recognized parties and 52 electoral districts in Nova Scotia. Standings in the House of Assembly were 21 members of The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia, 20 members of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, 9 members of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, one independent and one vacancy. In the June 9, 2009 Provincial General Election, 212 candidates stood for election: 52 from each of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party (NSLP), the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP), The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia (PC), and the Green Party of Nova Scotia (GPNS); as well as 4 independent candidates. Of the total number of candidates who stood for election, 146 achieved the required threshold of 10% of the valid votes cast in their electoral districts qualifying them for reimbursement of a portion of their election expenses from public funding. Total reimbursement paid to these 146 candidates amounted to $2,699,458.09 in 2009. By comparison, in the 37th Provincial General Election held on June 13, 2006, when the reimbursement threshold was 15%, 134 out of 208 candidates standing for election received public funding for election expenses of $2,301,080.71. In the 36th Provincial General Election held on August 5, 2003, 144 out of 189 candidates standing for election received public funding for election expenses of $2,159,125.92. Recognized party election expenses for the June 9, 2009 Provincial General Election were $1,247,204.02.