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Do federal and provincial election legislation allow a snowbird to vote while out of country, and if so, what are the voting procedures?
STATUS
Each jurisdiction has election legislation that allows a snowbird to vote while out of country during an election, except Nova Scotia. Those jurisdictions that have election legislation provide for mail-in ballots, except for Ontario which requires voting by proxy.
PAST CSA SUCCESS
The CSA successfully lobbied the federal government in 1992, wherein the federal government legislated its absentee voting procedures for, amongst others, snowbirds, while out of country during a federal election.
CSA POSITION
(a) Nova Scotia
The right to vote is a citizen's constitutional right. Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives a person the right to vote in an election.
Nova Scotia's failure to allow a snowbird to be eligible to vote by proxy or mail-in ballot is an infringement of a person's constitutional right to vote.
A legislature cannot disenfranchise a person simply because he or she might be temporarily absent from his or her province/territory of ordinary residence.
Absentee voting for snowbirds exists in some form in every province and federally, except for Nova Scotia.
An absentee voting system exists in Great Britain as well as in the United States federally, and every state of the United States of America.
Case law exists in Canada that suggests snowbirds should have a right to vote and that the provincial legislature should be compelled to accommodate this fundamental right of democracy.
(b) Ontario
(i) Cumbersome & Impractical
The Ontario Election Act allows absentee voting for snowbirds by permitting a qualified elector to appoint another elector who resides in the same electoral district to vote by proxy for them on polling day.
Voting by proxy is cumbersome and impractical, since it is difficult to organize such voting with another elector who resides in the same electoral district, while one is absent from the province, notwithstanding the cost of facilitating such arrangements.
(ii) Violates One's Right to Secret Ballot
A secret ballot is part of a person's democratic and constitutional right to vote. Allowing someone to vote on your behalf violates your right to secret ballot which is generally described in Section 42 of the Ontario Election Act.
There is no assurance that your proxy will in fact vote as you have instructed, nor keep your vote secret.
(iii)All Provinces Except Ontario and Nova Scotia Have Mail-in Voting
No other province or territory imposes voting by proxy except Ontario.
(iv)Proxy Voting Discourages Voting
Government should do everything within its power to encourage voting. Mail-in voting encourages voting, while proxy voting discourages voting.
CSA PLAN OF ACTION
The CSA is lobbying the provinces of Nova Scotia and Ontario to amend their legislation to allow absentee snowbirds to vote by mail-in ballot.
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