(b) a person with a disability appointed by the Governor in Council; and

3 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately preceding Section 10 the following Section:

9A (1) Subject to subsection (2) but notwithstanding any other enactment, each general election must be held on the first Tuesday in October in the fourth calendar year following ordinary polling day for the immediately preceding general election.

(2) Nothing in this Section affects the powers of the Lieutenant Governor, including the power of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the House of Assembly at the discretion of the Lieutenant Governor.

4 Subsections 91(1) and (2) of Chapter 140 are repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(1) Subject to subsection (3), every polling station in an electoral district must be in accessible premises with level access and with an internal structure that allows persons with disabilities to cast their ballots without barrier or obstruction.

5 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 122 the following Section:

123 (1) A person

(a) whose name is on an official list of electors for a polling division; or

(b) whose name is not on an official list of electors for any polling division but is eligible to be added to an official list of electors,

is entitled, on ordinary polling day, to vote at any polling station in the Province, whether or not in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote, and Section 122 applies mutatis mutandis.

(2) Where a person votes pursuant to subsection (1) at a polling station in a constituency other than the one in which the person is, but for this Section, entitled to vote,

(a) the person may only vote for a candidate in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote;

(b) the person shall vote using a write-in ballot and Sections 100 to 106A apply mutatis mutandis;

(c) subsection 122(3) is to be read as if "candidate" is replaced by "recognized party"; and

(d) the ballot must be counted in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote.

6 Section 136 of Chapter 140, as amended by Chapter 43 of the Acts of 2001, is further amended by adding "Thursday," immediately after "the" in the first line.

7 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 193 the following heading and Section:

THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING

193A (1) In this Section,

(a) "advertise" means advertise during the election period to promote or oppose registered political parties or the election of candidate;

(b) "third party" means a person or group other than a registered political party, a registered district association or a candidate and includes, but is not limited to, trade unions, business and professional associations, charitable associations, social clubs, community action groups and individuals.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall establish a system of disclosure and registration of third parties that advertise during elections.

(3) Third parties that incur more than five hundred dollars in election advertising expenses shall register with the Chief Electoral Officer.

(4) Third parties that incur any election advertising expenses shall disclose those expenses as required by the Chief Electoral Officer.

(5) No third party may expend on election advertising more than one and one third per cent of the limit for registered political parties with candidates in every electoral district.

(6) No third party may expend on election advertising with respect to any electoral district more than ten per cent of the limit for that third party set out in subsection (5).

8 Subsection 8(1) of Chapter 1 of the Revised Statutes, 1989 (1992 Supplement), the House of Assembly Act, is repealed.

9 Subsection 10(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "six" in the third line and substituting "three"; and

(b) striking out "twelve" in the fourth line and substituting "six".

10 Chapter 1 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 36 the following headings and Section:

PART IVA

HOUSE BUSINESS

36A Where a petition, respecting a matter within the jurisdiction of the Province and signed by ten thousand or more individuals, is presented to the House by a member, the Chief Clerk shall cause the matter to be placed upon the order paper and the Government House Leader, or the member acting in the place of the Government House Leader, shall call the matter for debate within ten sitting days of it being presented.

11 Section 45A of Chapter 1, as enacted by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2006 and amended by Chapter 40 of the Acts of 2007 and Chapter 5 of the Acts of 2009, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsection:

(2A) The persons appointed pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) must be independent and, for greater certainty, cannot be former members or members of their immediate families.

12 Chapter 34 of the Acts of 2001, the Lobbyists' Registration Act, is amended by adding immediately after Section 3 the following Section:

3A A former member of the House of Assembly shall not lobby during the three-year period immediately following the time when the former member was a member of the House of Assembly.

13 Subsection 18(1) of Chapter 34, as amended by Chapter 57 of the Acts of 2010, is further amended by adding "Section 3A," immediately after "with" in the first line.

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This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2011 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created April 1, 2011. Send comments to legc.office@gov.ns.ca.