Bill 76 2004

An Act to amend
the Election Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1.  (1)  Section 27 of the Election Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1998, chapter 9, section 25, is amended by adding the following subsections:

Registered party endorsement

(9.1)  Where the candidate, with his or her consent, has received the endorsement of a registered party, the nomination paper shall be accompanied by a statement certifying that the candidate has been endorsed by the party.

Signature by party leader or agent

(9.2)  The statement referred to in subsection (9.1) must be signed by the party leader as registered under clause 10 (3) (c) of the Election Finances Act or by his or her agent.

Certification of agent's signature

(9.3)  The statement referred to in subsection (9.1) is valid when signed by the agent of a party leader, only if a statement signed by the leader certifying the person's appointment as agent has been filed with the Chief Election Officer before the close of the enumeration period.

Restriction

(9.4)  A registered party may endorse only one candidate in each electoral district and a candidate not endorsed by a registered party shall be considered as an independent candidate for the purpose of showing political affiliation on the ballot.

(2)  Subsection 27 (10) of the Act is amended by striking out "seven days" and substituting "10 days".

2.  Subsection 34 (2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Same

(2)  Each ballot shall be in the following form:

1. The names of the candidates shall be shown in capital letters on the ballot, with consecutive numbers preceding each candidate's name.

2. The surnames of the candidates shall be printed in bold type.

3. Subject to subsection 27 (8), the names of the candidates shall be listed in alphabetical order according to their legal surnames, with given names preceding the surnames.

4. At the request of the candidate, a sobriquet, abbreviation or familiar form of a given name may be used in lieu of the candidate's legal given name or names.

5. The ballot shall contain below each candidate's name,

i. the name of the registered party that has endorsed the candidate under subsection 27 (9.1), or

ii. the word "Independent" if the candidate has not been endorsed by a registered party.

Commencement

3.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

4.  The short title of this Act is the Election Amendment Act, 2004.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Election Act to require that a candidate's nomination paper be accompanied by the endorsement of the registered party that has endorsed the candidate, if any, and to require that election ballots set out the name of the registered party that endorsed the candidate.