Report provides options for change to Nunavut elections

Chief electoral officer David Hamilton tabled his report on Nunavut’s first election in the legislative assembly this week.

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

MICHAELA RODRIGUE

IQALUIT — The Nunavut government should consider creating a permanent voters’ list to help boost the numbers of enumerated voters, the Northwest Territories’ chief electoral officer says.

Despite an 88-per-cent voter turnout at the Feb. 15 election and relatively few glitches, chief electoral officer David Hamilton makes 19 recommendations to improve how Nunavut elections are run. .

Hamilton’s report was tabled at the Nunavut legislative assembly this week.

One of his recommendations is to consider compiling a permanent voters list to replace the difficult and time-consuming task of doing door-to-door enumeration.

“Doing enumeration in Nunavut is hard. In some places, it was difficult to find enumerators who were willing to do that kind of thing. People get scared of dogs easily,” Hamilton said.

At some polling stations, votes were cast by almost all voters on the enumeration lists, a sign that eligible voters were missed during enumeration.

“Some of the polls in Iqaluit had an almost 100-per-cent turn-out, which means there was poor enumeration,” Hamilton said.

Permanent voters’ lists?

A permanent voters list could be compiled and updated annually, using information on residents’ health cards, drivers’ licences or by using mail-in forms.

Canada’s permanent voters’ list is compiled through income tax returns. Hamilton suggested that such lists could also be used during municipal or Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. elections.

But Hamilton cautioned that there may be some apprehension surrounding a permanent voters list.

“A lot of people are scared of permanent lists and access to them. There’s a fear that people can access them,” he said.

Hamilton said it will be up to Nunavut MLAs to decide if their constituents want such a list.

If a permanent voters list isn’t compiled, Hamilton recommends that enumerators be hired in pairs where necessary.

In his report, Election of the First Legislative Assembly of Nunavut — 1999, Hamilton describes an election that managed to attract high voter participation and few serious complaints.

But his report also reveals the high cost of running an election in the North.

The 1999 election cost $977,035, paid for by Ottawa and the Northwest Territories’ government. In comparison, the last NWT-wide election cost $1.2 million.

In the future, Nunavut will pay for elections through the legislative assembly’s budget.

But Hamilton said extra money was spent to ensure that voters understood and were aware of the process. More money was also spent on multilingual advertisements.

“We deliberately went out of our way to get information out to people and that costs money,” Hamilton said. “But I think it’s money well spent.”

New methods

Nunavut’s voters were also exposed to new methods of voting, including mail-in voting and voting at the returning officers’ offices.

Confusion over where to vote, did arise for voters living in communities that include more than one constituency, such as Iqaluit. Technical problems also arose when proxy voting was used.

But Hamilton said the Nunavut legislature may want to consider the elimination of proxy voting in light of newly-available voting methods.

With Hamilton’s report now tabled, the Nunavut legislature must decide how it wants to run elections and by-elections in the future.

Contracted-out elections?

The Nunavut government is considering not setting up a permanent full-time elections office.

Instead, the government may contract out responsibilities to another jurisdiction and appoint a chief electoral officer only when elections or by-elections approach.

The position can be performed by a government staffer such as the clerk of the legislative assembly or the official conflict of interest commissioner. Or it can be contracted out to another person, Hamilton said.

In his report, Hamilton only states that Nunavut needs to consider its options.

Hamilton did say there is not enough work for a permanent elections office during non-election years. He said it takes about a year and a half to prepare for an election and another year after the election to complete the work.

“You don’t need people sitting around doing nothing, because quite frankly there’s not all that much to do between elections,” Hamilton said.

But if Nunavut decides to implement a permanent voters list or other changes to the elections process, some staff will be needed to perform administrative duties, Hamilton said.

“I would probably think they would need a part-time person right now and of course gear up as the election gets nearer,” Hamilton said.

By handing in this report, Hamilton has completed one of his primary responsibilities as chief electoral officer for Nunavut’s first election.

After Nunatsiaq News pres- time he also released details on who contributed to each candidates’ campaigns.

Hamilton is now conducting the only full investigation into a complaint arising from the election.

Hamilton is also waiting to receive statements of expenses from two candidates.

The Nunavut legislature will now study Hamilton’s report and decide whether to make any amendments to procedures or the Nunavut Elections Act.

Other recommendations include:

The length of election campaigns be reduced from 45 days to 28.
A review be conducted to decide whether proxy voting should continue, considering other voting opportunities exist.
That returning officers be given the right to vote at territorial elections.
That a review of the hours of operation and location of advance polls be undertaken
That an enumeration be conducted in the communities of Bathurst Inlet and Umingmaktok and that each community be designated a polling division.
That a review be undertaken to determine the need for elector transfer certificates to permit voters who move to vote in their new electoral district.
That a protocol be developed before the next election, for the investigation and prosecution of electoral infractions.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot be extended.

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