Enumerators: Coming to Your Door Soon

CORRECTION: FIXES DATES OF ENUMERATION.

EDITORS: This is the first in a series of features on the electoral process provided by Communications Nova Scotia for voters preparing to cast ballots March 24, 1998. Please take note of specific time elements in some of the features.

By Communications Nova Scotia Staff

Pity the hard-working enumerators at your door on this frigid night, and please don't call the police.

Be patient as they ask for your name and your civic and mailing addresses. And as one of them stops his shivering hands long enough to record the information, pressing pen firmly on paper (duplicates, you know), remember that this is for a Nova Scotia election, not a federal vote.

Next week (Feb. 21-26), almost 5,000 enumerators will be fanning out across the province. They will be knocking on the door of every house, every apartment, every seniors' home and every student residence in an intensive effort to compile as accurate and as comprehensive a list as possible of Nova Scotians qualified to cast a ballot in the March 24 general election.

Some Nova Scotians may be surprised by the process this time around, considering a federal ad campaign in 1997 that suggested the enumerator's knock on the door would be a thing of the past. Some were so surprised during enumeration prior to November's three byelections, they called police upon seeing late-evening strangers on their front stoop.

But provincial enumeration -- and its $800,000 cost -- is still with us, at least for now, said Janet Willwerth, Nova Scotia's acting chief electoral officer.

"The process a year ago was to draw up the federal voters' registry," said Ms. Willwerth. "Even if we were legally permitted, we couldn't use that list. There are several practical problems -- for starters, we can't adapt the electoral geography."

The permanent federal registry, not surprisingly, divides voters among the 11 federal ridings in Nova Scotia, not the 52 provincial electoral districts. Add to that the many different boundaries for the polling divisions within each district, and the polling stations within each division, and any attempt to make the federal and provincial lists compatible would be a considerable challenge.

Ms. Willwerth points to another key incompatibility:
qualifications to vote federally and provincially differ. British subjects are permitted to vote in Nova Scotia elections but not federal elections. As a result, the federal registry does not include British subjects. And Nova Scotia voters must have lived in the province during the six months immediately prior to an election call -- a residency requirement the federal list does not reflect.

But even if these inconsistencies were somehow resolved, Nova Scotia would still not be in a position to use the federal list, said Ms. Willwerth. There remains a legal requirement to enumerate Nova Scotians prior to a provincial vote.

So, starting on Saturday, Feb. 21, until Thursday, Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., two enumerators in each of almost 2,500 polling stations will be knocking on doors. They'll be wearing identification: a large black and white button with the words Elections Nova Scotia Enumerator.

They'll be asking for the names of eligible voters who live at that residence, and confirming the mailing and civic addresses of these voters.

To qualify to vote, a person must be 18 years of age or older on Tuesday, March 24, 1998, a Canadian citizen or British subject, and a resident of Nova Scotia for six months prior to the election call.

After a household is enumerated, a notice of enumeration card is mailed to every voter whose name is on the official list of electors. In 1993, more than 655,000 eligible voters received notice of enumeration cards, which details when and where to vote. The cards also provides information on special and advance polls and other details about the election.

If no one is at home when the enumerators call, they will try again later. If an eligible voter is missed, he or she may apply to be added to the voters' list at a sitting of the revising officer, which will take place March 12-14.

Those left off the voters' list will not be permitted to vote at the advance poll or by proxy. They may, however, vote at the special poll or on election day after they meet qualifications.

"Enumeration gives us a very accurate picture of who should be voting March 24," said Ms. Willwerth. "And for voters, it's the most simple, straightforward way of ensuring their right to vote."