Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

Marginal note:Refusal to appoint deputy returning officer

• 37. (1) A returning officer may, on reasonable grounds, refuse to appoint a deputy returning officer or a poll clerk recommended by a candidate and shall immediately advise the candidate of the refusal.

• Marginal note:Recommendation of another person

  (2) The candidate may, within 24 hours after being advised of the refusal, recommend another person and, if he or she does not do so, the returning officer shall proceed to appoint another person whose name is solicited from another source.

Marginal note:Replacement for deputy returning officer

• 38. (1) When the office of deputy returning officer is vacant or if the deputy returning officer is unable or unwilling to act, and the returning officer has not appointed a replacement, the poll clerk shall act as deputy returning officer without taking another oath.

• Marginal note:Another poll clerk appointed

  (2) When a poll clerk acts as deputy returning officer, the poll clerk shall, in the prescribed form, appoint a person to act as poll clerk.

Marginal note:Registration desks

• 39. (1) The returning officer shall establish one or more registration desks in accordance with the instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Appointment of registration officers

  (2) The returning officer shall appoint, for each registration desk, a registration officer to receive, on polling day, the applications for registration of electors whose names are not on the list of electors.

• Marginal note:Solicitation of names

  (3) Before appointing registration officers, the returning officer shall solicit names of suitable persons from the candidates of the registered parties whose candidates finished first and second in the last election in the electoral district, to be submitted to the returning officer no later than the 17th day before polling day. If, by that time, a sufficient number of names of suitable persons are not provided by those candidates, the returning officer may solicit names from other sources.

• Marginal note:Equal distribution of appointments

  (4) The returning officer shall, as far as possible, appoint half of the registration officers from among the persons recommended by each of the candidates under subsection (3). If either of those candidates did not provide a sufficient number of names of suitable persons, his or her registered party’s remaining share of the appointments shall be made from among the names solicited by the returning officer from other sources.

Marginal note:List of names to be provided

40. The registered parties that have the right to provide the returning officer with lists of names of suitable persons to be appointed as election officers for the purposes of a by-election under subsection 29(1.1) of the Parliament of Canada Act because of an equality of votes are the same registered parties as those who had that right for the purposes of the election that resulted in the equality of votes.