Press Release no. 12 - April 7, 2014 general election - 125 returning officers at the service of Québec's electors

QUÉBEC, March 17, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Jacques Drouin, Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, wishes to recall the very important role played by returning officers in the organization of the general election that will be held this April 7.  The offices of these returning officers are open since March 5 to the general public in each of the 125 electoral divisions of Québec.

Under the authority of the Chief Electoral Officer, returning officers are in charge of the application of the Election Act in their electoral division. Therefore, they represent the Chief Electoral Officer and as such they have important responsibilities, especially as regards the candidates of their electoral division. In fact, returning officers decide whether or not to accept nomination papers; they supervise the printing of ballot papers; and at the conclusion of the electoral process, they declare as officially elected the candidate having obtained the most votes so that he or she may sit in the National Assembly. Returning officers also oversee revision operations pertaining to the list of electors: they strike revision committees, prepare their premises, ensure their training, and supervise their activities, while respecting their right to hand down independent decisions.

Their best known responsibility lies in organizing various types of voting procedures. In order to do so, they hire and train the election officers required to ensure that the election proceeds smoothly in each of the electoral divisions. In this regard, interested persons may apply for a job as a member of the election staff in their electoral division, by using the form available on-line on the Website of the Chief Electoral Officer. It is returning officers who supervise advance polling in their electoral division. On this subject, persons interested in availing themselves of the right to vote at home or certain conditions of voting in residential facilities must register with the returning officer. For the first time, the returning must put in place a new voting mechanism, namely the vote in educational institutions.

The returning officers will also open a polling station at their office, as well as in one or more secondary offices in certain very large electoral divisions. This vote will take place on March 28 and 30 as well as April 1, 2 and 3 until 2:00 PM. And of course, the returning officer is responsible of holding the vote on April 7.

In order to ensure the success of the various activities listed on the election calendar, every returning officer is assisted by a deputy, and aides.

The names and the contact information of the returning officers of all 125 electoral divisions in Québec are available on the Website of the Chief Electoral Officer at www.monvote.qc.ca. On the home page, click on "Information on electoral divisions". This takes you to a search engine where you simply have to select the name of the electoral division of interest.

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SOURCE: Directeur général des élections

Denis Dion
Information Officer
418 644-3320 or 1 888 870-3320
[email protected]