Tuesday by Law and Other Election Facts

EDITORS: This is the seventh 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

TUESDAY BY LAW
If it's a Nova Scotia election, it must be Tuesday.

Since the early 1960s, provincial elections have been required by law to be held on that day of the week. The fixed day for voting followed a recommendation of the 1960 Royal Commission on Provincial Elections.

But the move was almost academic: by fixing the voting day, the lawmakers were legislating what had essentially become a provincial tradition.

Prior to the 1960s, the Governor in Council fixed the day for the nomination of candidates, and then the election was held 14 days after that nomination day. It usually worked out to a Tuesday.

The commission, after examining elections legislation in several jurisdictions, said a fixed polling day would permit the setting up of a timetable to schedule such election processes as enumeration, nomination day and the advance poll.

"This is extremely important and necessary when an election is being run on a minimum schedule," the commission reported.

It decided against Monday, the day of choice for federal elections, because many holidays fall on that day.

Instead, the commission opted for Tuesday, citing Nova Scotia tradition and noting that returning officers required the extra weekday to ready for the polling.

FRANCHISE EXERCISED
A total of 649,207 Nova Scotia residents are eligible to vote in the March 24 provincial election.

That compares with 654,280 in the 1993 general election, of which 75.39 per cent cast ballots.

Nova Scotia traditionally records among the highest voter turnout rates in the country. An average 76.3 per cent of eligible voters headed to the polls in the 10 provincial elections since 1960.

OUT OF THE COUNT
Six instances compel a deputy returning officer to reject a ballot during the counting of votes.

Under the Elections Act, a ballot must be rejected if it is:

• not supplied by the deputy returning officer
• not marked for any candidate
• not marked, by pencil or pen, with a cross, an X, a
  check mark or a line in the circle to the right of
  a candidate's name
• marked for more than one candidate
• "so marked to render it uncertain" which candidate
  received the vote
• written upon, whereby such writing identifies the voter
  (marks made by the deputy returning officer are excluded)

Rejected ballots are placed in an envelope and held for examination in possible recounts.

IT'S OFFICIAL
Although ballots are counted after the polls close, and results relayed to news outlets, election results are not official for 14 more days.

The official tally of votes begins at 10 a.m. the first Tuesday after the election. It is conducted by the constituency returning officer before witnesses at his or her headquarters.

Another week after that, the results are deemed official

• pending recounts notwithstanding.

The returning officer then transmits them on a "recapitulation sheet," by personal delivery or registered mail, to the chief electoral officer and to the candidates or their representatives.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For repeats of earlier election features listed below, please e-mail <rossng@gov.ns.ca.>
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
Feb. 27 -- No More MLAs and Other Election Facts
March 5 -- Returning Officers: Keeping Things Organized
March 13 -- On the Hustings and Other Election Facts