Casual Legal: Counting votes
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information to Alberta Municipalities members only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. This content is not intended for the general public.
By Shauna Finlay
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
Counting votes after a local election sometimes leads to long nights. What are the rules related to the designation of common areas that would allow for ballots to be counted in a common location?
Section 85.1 of the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) provides for a counting centre to be designated by a municipality, but only for the counting of certain ballots contained in the special ballot box, advance vote ballot box and institutional vote ballot box. Otherwise, section 85 governs the counting of ballots at a voting station.
Section 85 of the LAEA provides:
85(1) Immediately after the close of the voting station, the presiding deputy shall in the presence of
(a) at least one and any additional officers that the deputy considers necessary, and
(b) the candidates, official agents or scrutineers, if any, ensure that each ballot box is opened and that the votes are counted.
85(2) A deputy shall not permit more than the candidate or the candidate’s official agent or scrutineer, or more than one official agent or scrutineer of either side of a vote on any bylaw or question to be present at the same time in a voting station during the counting of the votes.
The effect of this provision is to require that vote counting occur at the voting station and directly after the close of the voting station. There is no provision in the LAEA for the transportation of ballots to a central location for counting. The only exception is how special ballots, institutional vote ballots, and advance vote ballots are dealt with.
Unfortunately, this means that those who must work late to count votes cannot get together with others doing the same work in other voting stations to keep each other company.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (email) to reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please call 310-MUNI (6864) or riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (email) to connect with Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
