No More MLAs and Other Election Facts

EDITORS: This is the fourth in a series of feature material provided by Communications Nova Scotia as voters prepare to cast ballots in the March 24 general election.

By Communications Nova Scotia Staff

HAND IT OVER
Just why isn't a voter permitted to personally deposit his or her ballot into the ballot box?

Instead, the law requires a voter to return the ballot to the deputy returning officer who in turn puts it into the box.

The process allows the officer to verify that the ballot is indeed the same piece of paper handed to the voter minutes before. The officer does this by checking for his or her initials and a serial number on the still-folded ballot.

The initials are added in front of witnesses just before the polls open. The Elections Act calls for them to be affixed "uniformly" and "either entirely with ink of one colour, or entirely with black lead pencil, in the space provided for that purpose on the back of the ballot papers."

MLAs NO MORE
The proclamation that sets the date of the election also dissolves the legislature. And no Legislative Assembly means no members of the Legislative Assembly.

However, the Executive Council, or cabinet, does remain intact to govern the province.

But with no MLAs, it is incorrect to say that Jane Smith is the incumbent for the riding of Picturesque Nova. An incumbent is the holder of an office, which Ms. Smith no longer is.

An accurate phrasing would be to say Ms. Smith was a member of the last House, or she represented the riding of Picturesque Nova in the last legislature.

FIRST OFF THE MARK
Nova Scotia's electoral history boasts two notable firsts.

The first elected assembly in what is now Canada met in Halifax on Oct. 2, 1758, marking the introduction of representative government.

Nineteen members were in attendance at this first session of the First General Assembly. More than half were New Englanders living in Halifax, five had arrived with Edward Cornwallis to found the city in 1749, and one was German Philip Augustus Knaut of Lunenburg.

Almost a century later, in February 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony to secure responsible government. A driving force behind this development was Nova Scotian patriot Joseph Howe, who lauded that it had been accomplished without "a blow struck or a pane of glass broken."

COUNTS AND RECOUNTS
How close is too close? In Nova Scotia elections, it's fewer than 10 votes.

A judicial recount is automatic if a candidate wins by that slim a margin. Any wider, and a candidate or official agent may apply to a justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court for a recount.

One ballot has been known to make the difference: in the May 1953 election, Alfred Reid took Hants East over Ernest Ettinger by a single vote.

BOTTOMS UP
This general election is the third this century that Nova Scotians can toss one back at a pub during voting hours.

Since the September 1988 election, bars and taverns across the province have been permitted to open regular hours on election day.

Throughout the 1800s, open bribery of voters with rum, tobacco and other desirables was not uncommon. By the start of the 1900s, a law was in place forbidding drinking establishments to open their doors until polls closed.

Liquor stores have been allowed to open regular hours since the last election, in 1993.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For repeats of earlier election features listed below, please e-mail <[email protected].>
Feb. 17 -- Enumerators: Coming to Your Door Soon
Feb. 20 -- Nova Scotia Elections: The Way We Were
Feb. 25 -- The Right Writs and Other Election Facts