Open Letter To Elections Canada

February 10, 2020

Stéphane Perrault
Chief Electoral Officer
Elections Canada

Mr. Stéphane Perrault,

Around the world democracy is threatened by declining trust in core institutions. Canada is not immune to this challenge. While most Canadians are satisfied with the state of our democracy, nearly half of all Canadians think it is getting weaker. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, the nonprofit sector is more trusted than business, government, and media. The Canadian government is consistently less trusted than other sectors. While voter turnout has stabilized from steady decline over the last forty years, 9.5 million eligible citizens did not vote in the 43rd federal election. We, the undersigned members of The Canadian Vote Coalition, a group of civil society organizations including public libraries, immigrant and refugee-serving agencies, literacy organizations and more, are deeply concerned by these trends.

As Elections Canada celebrates its 100th anniversary, we want to applaud its ongoing efforts to ensure that elections are free, fair and inclusive. In particular we want to commend the initiatives undertaken during the 43rd federal election to advance these goals. From expanded on-campus voting opportunities to advanced use of social media, Elections Canada made voting convenient and more accessible. We particularly want to applaud Elections Canada’s efforts to consult with community based organizations who have trusted relationships with first time and infrequent voters who are often difficult to reach.

But we know that more work remains. A vibrant, resilient democracy is inclusive and inspires citizens to participate. 9.5 million Canadians were not included or inspired to participate in the last federal election. We can and must do better. Upholding our democracy is on all of us, and it will take all of us.

Upholding our democracy is on all of us, and it will take all of us.

That is why we, the undersigned members of The Canadian Vote Coalition, are calling on Elections Canada to proactively pursue more inclusive voter engagement, and invite collaborative, sustained relationship with our organizations and those we serve.

The following five challenges and corresponding recommendations focus on tangible steps Elections Canada can take to build on the work they are already doing to make the electoral experience more inclusive.

1. Collaboration with community organizations and local leaders

As representatives from civil society organizations, the undersigned share a commitment to ensuring that all eligible Canadians participate in our elections. Elections Canada provided resources to our sector such as the Inspire Democracy program, and supported engaging initiatives like Vote PopUp, youth volunteer Street Teams and the Guide to Voting for Literacy Practitioners. In the lead up to the 2019 federal election, the team at Elections Canada’s headquarters was highly responsive to our questions and concerns. Because Elections Canada provided authoritative information about where, when and ways to vote, and supported national organizations that were able to provide additional training and resources, we were able to better demystify the voting process.

However, our experience working with Elections Canada local field staff was variable. Field staff have a critical role to play working with community organizations, particularly during the critical few weeks before election day. This relationship was most successful when it began prior to the election period and Returning Officers (ROs) reached out to community organizations and attended community events. However, when this did not happen, it was very difficult for organizations to contact ROs because their contact information was not always easily accessible to the public.

During the election period, RO’s have the opportunity to hire Community Relations Officers (CROs) to lead engagement with communities that face barriers to participation. Unfortunately, these CROs often receive little training and struggle to establish meaningful relationships with community organizations during the short period of time they are hired. In many cases, our organizations were unable to make connections with CROs to support community engagement efforts. At their best, we saw examples of CROs who are members of communities themselves, strengthen relationships and work quickly to demystify the voting process. At their worst, we saw examples of CROs who made assumptions about effective outreach strategies and held prejudicial attitudes towards some communities.

While a broad review of how field staff work with community organizations is warranted, we recommend three immediate changes. First, that all ROs and CROs receive training on how to collaborate with community organizations and local leaders. This training should include a specific focus on fairness, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Second, that Elections Canada provide ROs a mandate to build relationships with community organizations and make their contact information easily accessible to the public before the election period. Third, that the hiring of CROs begin before the election period to allow them to build relationships with the community.

2. Voter registration

According to Elections Canada, 93.5 percent of all eligible electors were automatically registered to vote as of June 2019. Elections Canada makes it easy for most Canadians who are not automatically registered to do so at their polling location. Unfortunately, many first-time and infrequent voters we engaged during the election period did not know this, leading to the assumption they must be registered before going to vote.

Elections Canada’s communications contributed to this confusion by actively encouraging people to register online prior to voting. This created two possible deterrents. First, it created the false impression among first-time and infrequent voters that registration was required before going to vote. This misunderstanding is reinforced by media reports about voter registration requirements in the United States. Second, the user experience of Election Canada’s multi-step online voter registration process was burdensome.

We recommend that Elections Canada continue its efforts to increase the coverage of the National Register of Electors through streamlining its data collection. We also recommend that Elections Canada narrowly focus its public outreach on electors who turn 18 and electors who have recently moved. At the same time it is important for Elections Canada to clarify that electors have the option to register when they go to vote.

3. Polling locations and staff

Elections Canada has made significant advances towards making polling locations inclusively accessible and welcoming for all citizens. However, there is more work to be done. First, by making greater efforts to ensure that Canadians know that many accommodations are available. Second, by continuing to seek fully accessible and secular voting locations. Third, by training all field staff on how to support diverse people with different needs when they are voting. This includes but is not limited to language barriers, physical accessibility, people with no fixed addresses, gender and identification documents.

4. On-Campus voting

For the second federal election in a row, Elections Canada opened “vote anywhere” polling locations on post-secondary campuses, and significantly increased the number of locations. These locations had special ballots for those who may be away from their electoral district on election day, which are particularly valuable for students.

Awareness of this opportunity remains limited. In the best case, Elections Canada field staff worked closely with campus administrators and organizations to coordinate outreach efforts prior to the election period. However, many campus engagement efforts operated without the support of Elections Canada’s field staff and without easy access to Elections Canada’s voter information materials. Our first recommendation is that criteria for selection of campuses is circulated widely, and timelines for decision making are publicly calendarized to allow time for planning and outreach. We also recommend that Elections Canada require collaboration between administrators and organizations to enhance awareness of this opportunity. Finally, we recommend that Elections Canada expand the capacity of on-campus polling locations. Where the program was well publicized, electors experienced wait times of over one hour.

5. Third-party advertising

In advance of the 43rd federal election, new legislation came into effect governing third party advertising. While the intent of the legislation was to prevent unregulated partisan activities, it had the unintended effect of discouraging community organizations from undertaking non-partisan efforts to encourage voter participation. Organizations feared that their activities would be considered partisan and subject to onerous reporting requirements. Some organizations were even reluctant to promote resources that were sanctioned by Elections Canada. We recommend that Elections Canada work to clarify regulations concerning third party advertising and make it explicit that free or low cost nonpartisan policy advocacy, as well as efforts to educate voters about where, when and ways to vote are not subject to these regulations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we call on Elections Canada as it considers its 2020-2028 Strategic Plan, to commit to move from consultation to collaborative relationships with civil society organizations. As organizations with trusted relationships with Canadians — especially in vulnerable communities — we are uniquely positioned to combat disinformation, educate, and mobilize citizens. We recommend that the Government of Canada, with Elections Canada’s expertise and support, expand funding for community-led approaches to building civic literacy.

A fair election is an inclusive, accessible election that all Canadians willingly participate in. The undersigned organizations stand with Elections Canada and all Canadians as we strive to make this goal a reality.

 

Download the letter as a PDF here. Read our press release here.
Contact us if you want to add your organization as a signatory.