FIRST SESSION THIRTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE Draft Bill Election Act Tabled by Mr. Jacques P. Dupuis Minister for the Reform of Democratic Institutions Québec Official Publisher 2004 1 EXPLANATORY NOTES This draft bill proposes to replace the current Election Act with a new one featuring more logically organized titles and chapters. The purpose of the draft bill is to regulate the organization and holding of free and democratic elections in accordance with the right of every person to vote and to run as a candidate. The main objectives of the draft bill are to encourage all electors to vote, ensure effective representation for all electors, taking into account that all votes are of equal weight, ensure equal opportunity for all candidates and parties during an election, particularly through equitable financing and efficient control of election spending, and encourage fair representation of women and ethnocultural minorities in the National Assembly that mirrors their demographic representation in Québec society. To that end, the draft bill proposes measures designed to facilitate the voting process, including – extending the revision period for the list of electors, setting up mobile boards of revisors and allowing revision requests to be filed by mail, fax or electronic means; – allowing voting in any of the offices set up by the returning officer in an electoral division over the entire electoral period; – allowing persons domiciled in Québec to vote by correspondence in the same manner as electors outside Québec; voting by correspondence will thus be possible for hospitalized persons, inmates, workers and students, among others; and – extending advance polling hours and allowing advance polling in private residences for the elderly. The draft bill provides for a new mixed-member proportional electoral system. To that end, the draft bill introduces criteria for redrawing the electoral map to divide it into 77 electoral divisions and 24 to 27 districts. It maintains an electoral division for the territory of Îles-de-la-Madeleine and creates a new one for the territory of Nunavik. The other electoral divisions will be established according to population instead of the number of electors registered on the permanent list of electors. Under the bill, the total population 2 in an electoral division may diverge by up to 15% from the quotient obtained by dividing the population of Québec by 75, which is the number of divisions whose boundaries are to be established. Furthermore, each division is to be represented by one seat and, as a general rule, districts are to be comprised of three contiguous divisions and represented by two compensatory seats, for a total of 127 Members. The bill also introduces a mechanism to determine the awarding of the compensatory district seats based on the results obtained in each of the districts by the division seat candidates of the parties. In order to encourage fair representation of women and ethnocultural minorities in the National Assembly that mirrors their demographic representation in Québec society, the draft bill includes financial incentives such as an increase in a party’s annual allowance as well as in the reimbursement of its election expenses. The draft bill also makes significant changes to the provisions applicable to private intervenors. 3 4 Draft Bill ELECTION ACT THE PARLIAMENT OF QUÉBEC ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: TITLE I PURPOSE OF THE ACT 1. The purpose of this Act is to regulate the organization and conduct of free and democratic elections for the selection of representatives in the National Assembly in accordance with the right of every person to vote and to stand as a candidate. Accordingly, the objectives of this Act include (1) encouraging all electors to exercise their right to vote; (2) ensuring effective representation for all electors, taking into account that all votes are of equal weight; (3) ensuring equal opportunity for all candidates and all political parties during an election, particularly through equitable financing and effective control of election spending; (4) encouraging fair representation of women and men in the National Assembly; and (5) encouraging fair representation of members of ethnocultural minorities in the National Assembly. 5 TITLE II RIGHT TO VOTE AND RIGHT TO STAND AS CANDIDATE CHAPTER I RIGHT TO VOTE DIVISION I REQUIREMENTS 2. Every person who is a qualified elector and meets the requirements of this Act has the right to vote in a general election or a by-election. 3. Every person who (1) is 18 years of age, (2) is a Canadian citizen, (3) has been domiciled in Québec for six months, and (4) is not under curatorship, is a qualified elector. 4. To exercise the right to vote, a person must (1) be a qualified elector on polling day; (2) be registered on the list of electors of the polling subdivision of the person’s domicile on the thirteenth day before polling day; (3) not have been convicted or held guilty of corrupt electoral or referendum practices during the last five years. An elector who has the right to vote cannot be required to appear as a witness before a judge or a tribunal on polling day. 5. An elector votes for a candidate running for the division seat in the electoral division in which the elector is domiciled. 6. An elector who has left Québec temporarily after being domiciled in Québec for 12 months and meets the conditions set out in this Act may vote outside Québec for two years after the date of departure. However, the two-year limit does not apply to 6 (1) an elector posted outside Québec to a position with the government of Québec or Canada; (2) an elector posted outside Québec to a position with an international organization of which Québec or Canada is a member and to which it pays a contribution; or (3) an elector who is the spouse or a dependent of an elector referred to in subparagraph 1 or 2. 7. An elector having the right to vote outside Québec is considered domiciled at the address of his or her last domicile in Québec. An inmate is considered to be domiciled at the address of his or her domicile on the date of imprisonment. 8. A candidate in an election who was a member of the National Assembly when the order instituting the election was issued and who is running in an electoral division other than that in which the candidate is domiciled may choose to be considered as domiciled in the polling subdivision in which the candidate’s main office for the purposes of the election is located. The candidate must file a request to that effect on revision of the list of electors during an election period. DIVISION II PERMANENT LIST OF ELECTORS §1. — Description, registration, updating and confidentiality A. — Description 9. The permanent list of electors consists of the information in the register of electors and the register of territories. 10. The information in the register of electors includes the name, domiciliary address, sex and date of birth of each elector and, if applicable, entries relating to the right to vote outside Québec and the information referred to in section 17. The information also specifies, for the purposes of the Act respecting school elections (R.S.Q., chapter E-2.3), whether the elector may vote at a French language or an English language school board and whether the elector is referred to in the first or in the second paragraph of section 11.1 of that Act. 11. Despite section 89 of the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (R.S.Q., chapter A-2.1), no person may request the correction of personal information in the permanent list of electors or the list to be used for an election otherwise than as provided for in this Act. 7 12. The information in the register of territories includes, (1) for the purposes of this Act and the Referendum Act (R.S.Q., chapter C-64.1), a description of the electoral districts, electoral divisions, electoral precincts and polling subdivisions; (2) for the purposes of the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (R.S.Q., chapter E-2.2), a description of the boroughs, electoral districts or wards or, in the case of municipalities whose territory is not divided for electoral purposes and to which Title I of that Act applies, a description of their entire territory; and (3) for the purposes of the Act respecting school elections (R.S.Q., chapter E-2.3), a description of the electoral divisions and sectors. B. — Registration and updating 13. Every person who is a qualified elector may be registered on the permanent list of electors. 14. The information relating to electors is updated on the basis of the information sent to the Chief Electoral Officer by electors and on the basis of the information provided by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec, the school boards, the Public Curator and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada in the manner determined in an agreement with the Chief Electoral Officer, in accordance with the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (R.S.Q., chapter A-2.1). The information is also updated on the basis of the corrections sent by returning officers or by the person responsible for a municipal or school poll after the revision of a list of electors or referendum list, the corrections made following a verification of the permanent list of electors under section 42 or the corrections made by the permanent board of revisors established under section 636. 15. The elector communicates to the Chief Electoral Officer any change in the information relating to the elector on the permanent list of electors.