BILL NO. 63

(as introduced)

1st Session, 61st General Assembly
Nova Scotia
58 Elizabeth II, 2009

Private Member's Bill

Elections Act
(amended)

The Honourable Stephen McNeil
Annapolis

First Reading: November 4, 2009

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Clause 1 adds definitions of "third party" and "third party direct endorsement advertising" to the Elections Act.

Clause 2 adds registered sponsors to those eligible to advertise during an election.

Clause 3 sets out the parameters for sponsorship of election advertising.

1 Section 3 of Chapter 140 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Elections Act, as amended by Chapter 43 of the Acts of 2001 and Chapter 17 of the Acts of 2005, is further amended by adding immediately after clause (ada) the following clauses:

(adb) "third party" means a person or organization other than a candidate, recognized party, political organization or electoral district association;

(adc) "third party direct endorsement advertising" means advertising that declares one's personal or group's support of a candidate, recognized party, political organization or electoral district association;

(2) Section 176 of Chapter 140, as enacted by Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsection:

(3) A registered sponsor may engage in third party direct endorsement advertising provided it maintains records of the contributions it makes and receives for the purpose of third party advertising during an election and files those records with the Chief Electoral Officer as required by Section 176G.

176A (1) Sponsorship of election advertising occurs when

(a) a third party pays the cost of the election advertising for a candidate, recognized party, political organization or electoral district association; or

(b) advertising services are provided without charge.

(2) No third party shall sponsor election advertising unless

(a) the advertising identifies the name of the third party; and

(b) the third party is a registered sponsor.

(3) No third party shall sponsor election advertising with the property of any other person or indirectly through any other person.

(4) The Chief Electoral Officer, or a person acting on the Chief Electoral Officer's behalf may

(a) require the removal, discontinuance or destruction of; or

(b) remove or destroy, without notice,

any advertising material that does not meet the requirements of subsection (2).

176B (1) In this Section, "registered sponsor" means a third party who complies with the requirements of this Section, acts independently of candidates, recognized parties, political organizations and electoral district associations, and whose name has been entered in the register of registered sponsors by the Chief Electoral Officer.

(2) A third party who wishes to become a registered sponsor during an election shall apply in the prescribed form to the Chief Electoral Officer.

(3) An application pursuant to subsection (2) must be signed by the third party or principal of the third party and must set out

(a) the full name of the third party;

(b) the third party name or abbreviation, if any, to be shown in any advertising materials;

(c) the third party logo, if any;

(d) the name and address in the Province of the third party or principal of the third party;

(e) the address to which communications intended for the third party may be addressed;

(f) the names and addresses of the officers and directors of the third party;

(g) a valid telephone number in the Province for the third party;

(h) the motion and minutes of the meeting in which sponsorship by direct endorsement advertising was approved, if applicable; and

(i) any other information of an administrative nature required by the Chief Electoral Officer.

(4) An application for registration pursuant to this Section must be accompanied by a sworn declaration that the third party is not prohibited from being registered by Section 176J and not seeking registration for the purpose of limiting the election expenses of a party or candidate during an election.

(5) On receipt of an application, the Chief Electoral Officer shall examine the application and determine whether the third party is eligible to be entered as a registered sponsor in a register to be maintained by the Chief Electoral Officer for this purpose.

(6) A registered sponsor shall file written notice with the Chief Electoral Officer of any changes to the information required by subsections (3) and (4) within thirty days after it occurs.

176C Third-party advertising during an election must be limited to

(a) three thousand five hundred dollars for a single electoral district; and

(b) twenty-five thousand dollars in total overall.

176D Where a third party exceeds an advertising expense limit,

(a) the third party shall be deregistered as a sponsor and ineligible for registration until after the next election;

(b) the third party shall pay to the Chief Electoral Officer a penalty of ten times the amount by which the value of the election advertising it sponsored exceeds its limit; and

(c) all members of an unincorporated registered sponsor are jointly and severally liable for any penalty imposed by the Chief Electoral Officer.

176E (1) A registered sponsor may apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for deregistration once it has filed its election advertising disclosure report, if it is not subject to deregistration and does not have an outstanding penalty assessed under Section 176D.

(2) An application for deregistration must be in writing and signed

(a) by the applicant; or

(b) in the case of an organization, by two principal officers, or if there are no principal officers, by two members.

(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall deregister the sponsor if satisfied the application for deregistration is authorized by the sponsor and the conditions in subsection (1) have been met.

176F In order to be reregistered a third party shall file any outstanding reports with the Chief Electoral Officer and pay any outstanding penalties assessed under this Act.

176G (1) Third party sponsors shall file an election advertising disclosure report in accordance with this Section and Section 176H for any election advertising that has a total value of two hundred and fifty dollars or such higher amount as established by regulation.

(2) An election advertising disclosure report must be filed within ninety days after the ordinary polling day for the election to which it relates.

(3) A sponsor shall file a supplementary report with the Chief Electoral Officer if any information required to be disclosed in the election advertising report changes or if the sponsor becomes aware that the original report does not completely and accurately disclose that information.

(4) A supplementary report under subsection (3) must be filed within thirty days of the sponsor becoming aware of circumstances requiring the supplementary report to be filed.

176H An election advertising disclosure report must be signed by the registered sponsor or principal of the registered sponsor and must set out

(a) the value of election advertising paid for or contributed by the sponsor;

(b) a clear statement of any third party direct endorsement, if applicable;

(c) the registered party the sponsor has chosen to endorse;

(d) the motion and minutes of the meeting in which sponsorship of election advertising was authorized and the election to which the authorization was applicable; and

(e) any other information required by regulation.

176I Where a sponsor fails to file an election advertising disclosure report pursuant to Section 176G, it may be filed within thirty days after the time period under Section 176H expires once a late filing fee equivalent to the fine in subsection 185(2) has been paid to the Chief Electoral Officer.

176J (1) Where an election advertising disclosure report has not been filed with the Chief Electoral Officer pursuant to Section 176G and the time period established in that Section and Section 176H has expired, the sponsor

(a) shall be deregistered and ineligible for reregistration until after the next general election; and

(b) is subject to a penalty payable to the Chief Electoral Officer equivalent to the amount under Section 185(2) for each day that passes until the date on which it is in fact filed.

(2) All members of an unincorporated registered sponsor are jointly and severally liable to pay the penalty under clause (1)(b).

176K A registered sponsor shall maintain records of the contributions it makes and receives for the purpose of third-party advertising during an election and retain those records within the Province for a period of five years from the date of filing the election advertising disclosure report, or such longer period as specified by the Chief Electoral Officer.

176L All information filed pursuant to Sections 176B to 176K with the Chief Electoral Officer must be available for public inspection at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer during its regular office hours.

176M Funds and contributions that a sponsor uses for third party direct endorsement advertising in an election must be included in total party expenses established by Section 181.