BILL NO. 85

1st Session, 57th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
47 Elizabeth II, 1998

Government Bill

Elections Act
(amended)

The Honourable James A. Smith, M.D.
Minister of Justice

First Reading: November 20, 1998

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Clause 1 makes changes to the index to the Elections Act that are necessary as a result of the amendments made by this Bill.

Clause 2

(a) adds a definition of "mail-in ballot" to the Act; and

(b) includes mobile polling stations within the definition of "polling station".

Clause 3 permits the Chief Electoral Officer to recommend to the Governor in Council persons for appointment as returning officers.

Clause 4

(a) terminates the appointment of each returning officer who is in office on the coming into force of legislation implementing recommendations made in the first report of the electoral boundaries commission that is made after this Bill comes into force;

(b) requires the Governor in Council to appoint returning officers for the electoral districts named in the report;

(c) provides that each returning officer who is appointed after the first report of the electoral boundaries commission is made holds office until the tabling of the first electoral boundaries commission report after the returning officer is appointed and may re-appointed for one or more further terms; and

(d) makes it clear that the Governor in Council may re-appoint a returning officer whose appointment as a returning officer is terminated on the coming into force of the legislation implementing the first report of the Election Commission.

Clause 5 permits a returning officer to establish polling divisions consisting of two or more homes for the aged or two or more homes for special care, or two or more of both types of home.

Clauses 6 to 14

(a) replace revising officers appointed by the Governor in Council with revision assistants appointed by returning officers;

(b) change the times during which revisal sittings are held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the twelfth and eleventh days before ordinary polling day to such hours as are prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer, during that period of time from and including the twenty-second day before ordinary polling day to and including the fourth day before ordinary polling day;

(c) remove provisions that set out the exact dates on which an advertisement of revisal sittings must appear and replace them with provisions that permit the Chief Electoral Officer to give public notice by such means of communication as the Chief Electoral Officer considers advisable;

(d) remove the requirement that restricts the method of transmitting a notice to transmittal by registered mail;

(e) set out the duties of a revision assistant;

(f) set out how an elector's name may be added to or struck off the list of electors;

(g) permit a returning officer, instead of a revising officer, to transfer the name of an elector from one list to another; and

(h) repeal provisions that required revising officers to transmit to the returning officer changes to lists of electors and a provision that is no longer necessary because of the amendment made by Clause 22.

Clause 15 changes nomination day from the fourteenth day before ordinary polling day to the twenty-first day before ordinary polling day.

Clause 16

(a) gives a candidate or a candidate's representative the right to enter apartment buildings and other multiple residences in order to campaign; and

(b) makes it an offence to obstruct a candidate or a candidate's representative in lawfully campaigning.

Clause 17 permits political organizations to submit names of persons for appointment as returning officers and poll clerks and sets out the circumstances under which a political organization may do so.

Clause 18 removes a provision that required the address of a candidate to appear on the ballot.

Clause 19 makes an amendment that is necessary as a result of the amendment made by Clause 18 that permits a returning officer to locate a poll with level access in an adjacent electoral district where a polling station with level access cannot be secured in the electoral district.

Clause 20

(a) removes a provision that requires a returning officer to have only certain polling stations accessible to disabled persons and replaces it with a provision that requires that all polling stations have level access and that, if such a polling station cannot be secured, a polling station may be located in premises without level access with the consent of the Chief Electoral Officer; and

(b) enables a returning officer to locate a polling station in an adjacent electoral district, with the consent of the Chief Electoral Officer, if the location is more convenient.

Clause 21 permits the establishment of a mobile polling station for a polling division that consists of two or more homes for the aged, two or more homes for special care or two or more of both types of home.

Clause 22 changes from one to two the number of agents each candidate may have in a polling station.

Clause 23 removes a provision that states that the list of electors for a polling division and the statement of changes and additions to the list constitute the official list of electors for the polling division and replaces it with a provision that states that the list of electors for a polling division and the revisions to the list made pursuant to Sections 57 to 61 of the Act constitute the official list of electors for the polling division.

Clause 24 repeals those provisions of the Act that provide for proxy voting.

Clause 25 provides that any person whose name is not on the list of electors may apply to be added to the list in the polling station on ordinary polling day. At present, this may only be done in areas that are outside a city or a town having a population of over 5000. In all other areas, the application must, at present, be made at the office of the returning officer.

Clause 26 repeals a provision that deals with voting by proxy.

Clause 27 changes the hours during which advance polls are held on the Friday and Saturday before ordinary polling day from between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. to between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Clause 28 removes a provision that requires a person who votes at an advance poll to sign a declaration.

Clause 29 allows the deputy returning officer at an advance poll to add names of electors to the list of electors during the advance poll hours.

Clause 30 repeals a provision that is not relevant as a result of the removal of the requirement that an elector sign a declaration before voting at an advance poll.

Subclause 31(1) removes provisions that require special polls to be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the twelfth, eleventh and tenth days before ordinary polling day and replaces them with provisions that require special polls to be held on every day except a Sunday from 12:00 noon on the nineteenth day before ordinary polling day until 5:00 p.m. on the fifth day before ordinary polling day, during such hours as are prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer. This Clause also repeals a provision that permits the establishment of more than one special poll in a large electoral district.

Subclause 31(2) provides that a special poll be conducted by a presiding officer appointed by the returning officer, rather than by the returning officer or election clerk or by a person appointed by the returning officer with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, which is now the case.

Subclause 31(3) changes the deadline for the preparation of ballot papers for special polls from 12:00 noon on Thursday, the twelfth day before ordinary polling day to 12:00 noon on Thursday, the nineteenth day before ordinary polling day.

Clause 32 removes a provision that requires an elector whose name is not on the list of electors and who votes at a special poll to have that elector's name added to the list at the revisal sitting and replaces it with a provision that requires that an elector's name be on the list of electors before the elector may vote at a special poll.

Subclause 33(1) repeals a provision that requires a returning officer to appoint two presiding officers to count the votes cast at a special poll and replaces it with a provision that requires the returning officer to appoint an additional presiding officer to count the votes cast at a special poll.

Subclause 33(2) repeals a provision that required the deputy returning officer and poll clerk at an advance poll to count the votes cast at the special poll where fewer than 15 votes are cast at the special poll.

Clause 34 provides for voting by mail-in ballot at a special poll.

Clause 35 deletes a reference to a revising officer.

Clause 36 substitutes references to a revision assistant for references to a revising officer.

Clause 37 provides that the amendments made by the Bill apply in any election held after the Bill receives Royal Assent, including any election for which a writ is issued within six months after the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 Section 2 of Chapter 140 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Elections Act, is amended by

(a) deleting the item "Sittings of Revising Officers .... 47" from the list of items and substituting "Revision of the List of Electors .... 47, 53-61";

(b) adding to the list of items the item "Campaigning - 75A and 75B" immediately after the item "Death of a Candidate ....75";

(c) deleting the item "Issue of Proxy Paper .... 100-106" from the list of items; and

(d) adding to the list of items the item "Voting By Mail-In Ballot .... 154A-154E" immediately after the item "Special Poll .... 147-154".

2 Section 3 of Chapter 140 is amended by

(a) striking out "revising officer" in the fifth line of clause (j) and substituting "revision assistant";

(b) adding immediately after clause (o) the following clause:

(oa) "mail-in ballot" means a ballot that is cast pursuant to Sections 154A to 154E;

(c) striking out "91" in the last line of clause (y) and substituting "91A".

3 Subclause 5(2) of Chapter 140 is amended by adding immediately after clause (b) the following clause:

(ba) recommend to the Governor in Council persons for appointment as returning officers;

4 (1) Clause 14(1)(b) of Chapter 140 is amended by adding "or (2B)" immediately after "(2)" in the last line.

(2) Section 14 is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsections:

(2A) In subsections (2B), (2C), and (2E)

(a) "electoral boundaries commission report" means a report by the electoral boundaries commission that is made pursuant to the House of Assembly Act after this clause comes into force;

(b) "implementation date" means the date on which legislation that implements the first electoral boundaries commission report comes into force.

(2B) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, each person who was, immediately prior to the implementation date, a returning officer ceases to be a returning officer on the implementation date.

(2C) The Governor in Council shall, before the implementation date, appoint a returning officer for each electoral district named in the first electoral boundaries commission report.

(2D) A person appointed pursuant to subsection (2C) ceases to be a returning officer where

(a) the person is removed pursuant to subsection (3); or

(b) the person's term of office as a returning officer expires,

whichever first occurs.

(2E) Each returning officer whose term of office begins on or after the implementation date holds office until the tabling of the first electoral boundaries commission report that is made after the returning officer is appointed, and may be appointed for one or more of such terms, and for greater certainty, a person is not disqualified from being appointed as a returning officer pursuant to subsection (1) for a term of office that begins on or after the implementation date by reason only that the person was a returning officer at any time prior to the implementation date.

(ba) notwithstanding clause (a), establish one or more polling divisions each of which consists of two or more of the homes referred to in clause (b);

7 Sections 47 to 51 of Chapter 140 are repealed and the following Section substituted:

47 (1) The revision of each list of electors for an electoral district is the responsibility of the returning officer for the electoral district.

(2) The returning officer may appoint one or more revision assistants.

(3) A revision assistant has the power and shall exercise the duties as are conferred or imposed by this Act on each revision assistant.

(4) No person may be appointed as a revision assistant for an electoral district unless that person is the presiding officer at the special poll for the electoral district or the election clerk for the electoral district, except that a person who is not the presiding officer or the electoral clerk may, with the consent of the Chief Electoral Officer, be appointed as a revision assistant

(5) A revision assistant shall take an oath in the prescribed form before acting as a revision assistant.

53 A revision assistant shall sit at the returning office for the electoral district for which the revision assistant is appointed from and including Monday, the twenty-second day before ordinary polling day to and including Thursday, the fifth day before ordinary polling day during such hours as are prescribed and shall continue to sit to hear applications of persons who are present at the close of a sitting.

(a) striking out "revising" in the first line and substituting "returning";

(b) striking out "revisal" in the second line and substituting "electoral"; and

(c) striking out clauses (b) and (c).

(2) Subsection 54(2) of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) A returning officer shall cause to be inserted in the printed list of electors details of where and when applications for revision of the list may be made.

10 Section 55 of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

55 The Chief Electoral Officer shall give public notification of the times and place of the sittings of the revising officer by advertisement or any other means of communication as the Chief Electoral Officer considers advisable.

11 Sections 56 and 57 of Chapter 140 are repealed and the following Sections substituted:

56 (1) Each revision assistant for an electoral district shall

(a) make and retain, in the prescribed form, a record of all changes made to a list of electors by the revision assistant;

(b) permit one representative at a time from each political organization that is sponsoring a candidate or who is a candidate in the electoral district to be present at revisal sittings, who may object to or support an application made to the revision assistant;

(c) submit to the returning officer for the electoral district, for approval by the returning officer, all applications for additions to, correction of or deletion from lists of electors; and

(d) provide to each candidate in the electoral district a record, in the prescribed form, of all revisions made by the revision assistant.

(2) Each returning officer shall ensure that each list of electors provided to the deputy returning officer for each polling division in the electoral district contains the revisions for that polling division.

57 The name and particulars of an elector whose name does not appear on a list of electors may be added to the list if

(a) the elector completes a prescribed registration form, establishes that the elector is entitled to be included on the list and provides satisfactory proof of identity and residence;

(b) another elector, who lives at the same residence as the elector whose name does not appear on the list completes a prescribed registration form, establishes that the elector is entitled to be included on the list and provides satisfactory proof of identity and residence in respect of the elector whose name does not appear on the list; or

(c) another elector, who does not live at the same residence as the elector whose name does not appear on the list completes a prescribed registration form, establishes that the elector is entitled to be included on the list and provides

(i) a written authorization from the elector whose name does not appear on the list allowing the other elector to complete the form for the elector whose name does not appear on the list, and

(ii) satisfactory proof of identity in respect of the elector whose name does not appear on the list;

or

(d) one or both of the revising agents present to the revision assistant an index sheet containing the registration of the elector whose name does not appear on the list.

12 (1) Subsection 58(1) of Chapter 140 is amended by

(a) striking out "by a revising officer at the sittings" in the second and third lines;

(b) striking out "revising officer" in the first line of clause (b) and substituting "returning officer, election clerk or revision assistant"; and

(c) striking out all the punctuation and words immediately after "initiative" in clause (b) to the end of the subsection and substituting a period.

(2) Subsection 58(2) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "revising officer" in the first line and substituting "returning officer".

(3) Subsection 58(3) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "revising officer" in the first line and substituting "returning officer".

13 Section 59 of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "on Thursday and Friday, the twelfth and eleventh days before ordinary polling day," in the third and fourth lines.

14 Sections 60 to 64 of Chapter 140 are repealed and the following Sections substituted:

60 (1) No later than the eleventh day before polling day, an elector whose name appears on the list of electors for a polling division may make an objection before the returning officer respecting the inclusion of the name of another person on the list for that elector's electoral district.

(2) An elector who wishes to make an objection shall complete an affidavit of objection in the prescribed form, alleging that another person whose name appears on the list of electors is not qualified to vote, and shall submit the affidavit to the returning officer.

(3) The returning officer shall, on the day of receipt of an affidavit of objection or on the following day, deliver to the person objected to, at the person's address given on the preliminary list and also at any other address given on the affidavit, a notice in the prescribed form advising the person referred to in the affidavit that the person may

(a) appear personally or by representative before the returning officer at a specified time no later than the eleventh day before polling day; or

(b) send the returning officer, before that time, proof that the person is qualified as an elector.

(4) The returning officer shall, as soon as possible, send to each candidate in the electoral district a copy of the notice referred to in subsection (3).

(5) Where the person objected to decides to appear before the returning officer pursuant to paragraph (3)(a), the returning officer shall permit one representative of each candidate in the electoral district to be present, but no such representative, except with the permission of the returning officer, has any right to intervene.

61 (1) Where an objection is made in respect of the affidavit of objection taken pursuant to subsection 60(2), notice of which has been sent by the returning officer to the person objected to, the returning officer may examine, on oath, the elector making the objection, the person against whom the objection is made, where that person wishes to present that person's position, and any witness present, and make a decision on the basis of the information so obtained.

(2) The onus of presenting sufficient evidence to warrant the striking off of any name from the list of electors is on the elector making the objection.

(3) It is not necessary for the person against whom an objection is made to prove in the first instance that that person's name properly appears on the list of electors.

(4) The non-attendance before the returning officer, or the failure to send proof that the person is qualified as an elector, at the time an objection is dealt with, of the person against whom the objection is made does not relieve the elector making the objection from substantiating, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, a case that is considered by the returning officer sufficient to establish the fact that the name of the person objected to improperly appears on the list of electors.

(5) After an objection is dealt with by the returning officer, the returning officer shall either delete the name of the person objected to from the list of electors on which the name appears or allow the name to stay on that list.

16 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 75 the following heading and Sections:

CAMPAIGNING

75A A candidate or candidate's representative may enter any apartment building or other multiple residence during reasonable hours for the purpose of lawfully campaigning.

75B It is an offence to obstruct a candidate or a candidate's representative in lawfully campaigning.

(1) The returning officer for an electoral district shall appoint as deputy returning officer for each polling station a person from lists supplied by the candidate of the political organization whose candidate finished first in that electoral district in the last election.

(1A) The returning officer for an electoral district shall appoint as poll clerk for each polling station a person from lists supplied by the political organization whose candidate finished second in that electoral district in the last election.

(1B) The lists referred to in subsection (1) shall be transmitted to the returning officer no later than five o'clock in the afternoon of the tenth day before ordinary polling day.

(1C) A returning officer shall proceed to appoint deputy returning officers without the lists if the lists submitted by the time mentioned in subsection (1A) do not contain a sufficient number of qualified persons.

(1D) A returning officer may, on reasonable grounds, refuse to appoint a deputy returning officer or poll clerk recommended by a political organization, and shall advise the political organization immediately.

(1E) Where

(a) the boundaries of an electoral district have been altered since the last election for the electoral district; or

(b) there is no political organization to which subsection (1) applies,

the Chief Electoral Officer shall determine which political organization is entitled to submit the lists to the returning officer.

18 Clause 84(1)(a) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out ", the address of the candidate" in the third and fourth lines.

19 Subsection 88(1) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "not" in the first line and substituting "Subject to Section 91, not".

20 (1) Subsection 91(1) of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following subsections substituted:

(1) Subject to subsections (1A) and (1B), every polling station in an electoral district shall be in premises with level access.

(1A) Where a returning officer is unable to secure suitable premises with level access as a polling station, the returning officer may, with the prior approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, locate the polling station in premises without level access.

(1B) A returning officer may, with the consent of the Chief Electoral Officer, locate the polling station in a polling division in an adjacent electoral district, if such a location would be the most convenient for the electors in that polling division.

21 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 91 the following Section:

91A (1) Where a polling division consisting of two or more homes is constituted pursuant to clause (ba) of subsection (1) of Section 24, the returning officer may, with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, establish a mobile polling station to be located in each of those homes successively.

(2) The returning officer shall set the times during which a mobile polling station will be in the homes referred to in subsection (1).

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a mobile polling station shall be in a home referred to in subsection (1) for not less than three hours.

(4) The returning officer shall give notice to the candidates of the itinerary of the mobile polling station in such form and manner as are prescribed.

(5) Subject to the instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer, the provisions of this Act relating to ordinary polls apply to mobile polls so far as they are applicable.

23 Subsection 96(2) of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) The list of electors for a polling division and the revisions to the list made pursuant to Sections 57 to 61 together constitute the official list of electors for the polling division.

24 The heading immediately preceding Section 100 and Sections 100 to 106 of Chapter 140 are repealed.

25 (1) Subsection 122(1) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "located outside a city or a town having a population in excess of five thousand persons as shown by the last census of Canada" in the second, third and fourth lines.

(2) Subsections 122(2) and (3) of Chapter 140 are repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) Before administering an oath pursuant to subsection (1), the deputy returning officer shall require the person who is making the oath to produce evidence of identification and residence of a prescribed type.

26 Section 123 of Chapter 140 is repealed.

27 Section 136 of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "two and ten o'clock in the afternoon" in the last line and substituting "ten o'clock in the forenoon and eight o'clock in the afternoon".

28 (1) Clause 140(1)(c) of Chapter 140 is repealed.

(2) Subsection 140(2) of Chapter 140 is repealed.

29 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 140 the following Section:

140A (1) Where the name of an elector is not on the list of electors of a polling division in an electoral district for which an advance poll is held, the deputy returning officer at the advance poll may, on application of the elector and upon the elector taking an oath in the prescribed form, add the name of the elector to the list of electors for that polling division, on proof of identification in such form as is prescribed.

(2) Where a deputy returning officer at an advance poll adds a name to a list of electors pursuant to subsection (1), the deputy returning officer shall complete, in the prescribed form and manner, a registration certificate and transmit the certificate to the returning officer not later than the Saturday before ordinary polling day.

30 Clause 146(a) of Chapter 140 is repealed.

31 (1) Subsection 147(1) of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(1) A special poll shall be conducted every day except Sundays during that period of time commencing at twelve o'clock noon on the nineteenth day before ordinary polling day and ending at five o'clock on the afternoon of the fifth day before ordinary polling day during such hours of each day as are prescribed.

(5) A special poll shall be conducted by a presiding officer appointed by the returning officer.

32 Section 150 of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

150 No person may vote at a special poll unless the name of that person appears on the official list of electors for a polling division in the electoral district for which the special poll is held.

33 (1) Subsection 151(1) of Chapter 140 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(1) The returning officer shall appoint an additional presiding officer who, with the presiding officer, shall count the votes cast at the special poll.

34 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 154 the following heading and Sections:

VOTING BY MAIL-IN BALLOT

154A (1) An elector who wishes to vote at a special poll by mail-in ballot shall apply, in the prescribed manner and form, to the returning officer for the electoral district in which the elector is ordinarily resident.

(2) An application pursuant to subsection (1) shall contain such information and proof of identification as is prescribed and shall be transmitted to the returning officer in the prescribed manner.

154B (1) Where

(a) an elector makes an application pursuant to Section 154A;

(b) the applicant applies for a ballot to be transmitted by mail, the application is received by the returning officer on or before five o'clock in the afternoon of Saturday, the tenth day before ordinary polling day;

(c) the applicant's agent appointed pursuant to Section 154E applies personally to receive the ballot, the application is received by the returning officer before five o'clock on Saturday, the third day before an ordinary polling day; and

(d) the name of the elector is on the official list of electors for a polling division in the electoral district for which the special poll is held,

the returning officer shall approve the application.

(2) Where a returning officer approves an application pursuant to subsection (1), the returning officer shall

(a) transmit to the elector, in the prescribed manner

(i) a declaration envelope or outer envelope to which is attached a declaration that contains such information as is prescribed,

(ii) a ballot envelope or an inner envelope, in such form as is prescribed,

(iii) a ballot paper, initialled by the presiding officer, and

(iv) an instructional guide containing such information as is prescribed;

(b) make note of the date on which the application was approved;

(c) assign to the elector a consecutive number as an applicant;

(d) record, in the prescribed manner and form, the name and address of the elector;

(e) record, in the prescribed manner and form, the number of the polling division in which the elector is entitled to vote; and

(f) record, in the prescribed manner and form, the date on which the ballot paper was initialled.

154C In order to vote by mail-in ballot, the elector shall, after receiving the items transmitted to the elector pursuant to clause (a) of subsection (2) of Section 154B

(a) mark with a pencil or pen the circular space on the ballot paper at the right of the name of the candidate for whom the elector intends to vote with a cross, an "X", a check mark or a line;

(b) place the marked ballot in the inner envelope;

(c) seal the inner envelope;

(d) place the inner envelope in the outer envelope;

(e) seal the outer envelope;

(f) sign the declaration on the outer envelope; and

(g) transmit, in the prescribed manner, to the returning officer the sealed outer envelope that contains the sealed inner envelope that contains the marked ballot so that the outer envelope with the inner envelope and the marked ballot are received by the returning officer no later than five o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the third day before ordinary polling day.

154D (1) Where the outer envelope containing the inner envelope and marked ballot are transmitted to the presiding officer in accordance with clause (g) of Section 154C and received by the presiding officer on or before five o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the third day before ordinary polling day, the presiding officer shall, without unsealing it, deposit the outer envelope in the ballot box for the special poll.

(2) Where an outer envelope is deposited in a ballot box in accordance with subsection (1), the elector is deemed to have voted at the special poll and the outer envelope, the inner envelope and the ballot shall be dealt with in accordance with Section 151.

154E (1) Subject to subsection (2), where an elector is unable to personally attend at the office of the returning officer of an electoral district and wishes to vote by mail-in ballot, the elector may appoint an agent to receive and return the mail-in ballot on the elector's behalf.

(2) A person may not be appointed an agent pursuant to subsection (1) by an elector unless that person is

(a) on the same list of electors for the polling division where the elector is ordinarily resident;

(b) a child, grandchild, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, husband or wife of the elector and is on the list of electors for a polling division within the electoral district; or

(c) the child, grandchild, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, husband or wife of the elector and is of voting age, if the name of the elector is on the list of electors in a home for the aged or nursing home licensed pursuant to the Homes for Special Care Act,

and has not been appointed, pursuant to subsection (1), the agent for another elector other than for an elector who is a child, grandchild, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, husband or wife of the elector making the appointment.

(3) A returning officer shall not transmit or deliver to an agent appointed pursuant to subsection (1) any item referred to in clause (a) of subsection (2) of Section 154B unless and until the agent takes an oath in the prescribed form.

35 Subclause 169(b)(i) of Chapter 140 is amended by striking out "revising officer's".

36 Chapter 140 is further amended by striking out the phrase "revising officer" wherever it appears in Chapter 140, except in Section 2, in the first line of subsection 54(1) and in the first line of subsection 58(3), and substituting in each case "revision assistant".

37 Notwithstanding subsection 219(2) of the Elections Act, the amendments made to that Act by this Act apply in any election held after this Act comes into force, including, for greater certainty, any election for which a writ is issued within six months after this Act comes into force.