Proxy Votes and Other Election Facts

EDITORS: This is the second in a series of feature material on the electoral process provided by Communications Nova Scotia as voters prepare to cast ballots in a provincial election July 27, 1999. Please note the time elements in some of the items.

VOTING BY PROXY
Some Nova Scotia voters are permitted to ask relatives or neighbours to cast ballots on their behalf, but not vacationers.

Proxy voting is open to military personnel, offshore rig workers, fishermen, hospital patients, nursing home residents, full-time students and people with a physical or visual disability, all of whom will be out-of-town or otherwise can't make it to their assigned polling station on election day July 27.

To be eligible, these people must be on the voters' list. They also require the approval of the returning officer of their home electoral district after providing confirmation -- such as a certificate from a ship's officer or hospital administrator -- of their inability to personally cast a ballot on election day.

Returning officers will issue proxy papers July 12-24. Voters needing more information should call their local returning office.

FIVE OTHER DAYS
Nova Scotians planning to be away on vacation July 27 need not fear disenfranchisement. The province's Elections Act provides them with five other days on which to vote.

A special poll takes place July 15-17, while an advance poll for registered voters runs July 23-24.

The advance poll is for people unavailable or unable to vote on election day at their assigned polling station. On the Friday and Saturday before election day, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., voters can cast ballots at accessible polling stations designated in every riding. These early voters must have been enumerated.

Nova Scotians who do not have the time to vote on election day or during the advance poll may attend the three-day special poll to be held next week. Voters here need not have been enumerated, but if eligible are required to sign a form verifying their identity and declaring they will vote only once this election. The special poll is open noon to 9 p.m. on July 15 and 16, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 17.

Ballots cast at advance and special polls are sealed until the counting of votes begin after the close of all polls July 27.

ELIGIBLE TO VOTE
A person must meet four key requirements to be eligible to vote in a Nova Scotia election.

First, he or she must be 18 years of age on or before election day. Second, the voter must be a Canadian citizen or British subject.

The other two are residency requirements: a voter must have lived in Nova Scotia in the six months immediately before the election call -- since Dec. 18, 1998, in this election -- and in the polling division the date the writs were issued -- on June 18, 1999.

In the 1998 provincial election, about 650,000 Nova Scotians were eligible to vote.

CANDIDATES' DEADLINE
Nominations for candidates for Nova Scotia's general election close Tuesday, July 13, at 2 p.m.

Candidates wishing to be on the July 27 ballot must deliver their nomination papers to returning officers by that time. An hour later, electoral officials will fax each riding's candidates' list to the Electoral Office in Halifax.

Nova Scotians can nominate themselves. They'll need supporting signatures from five qualified voters and a $100 deposit. Those representing a recognized party also require an endorsement letter from that party's leader.

Deposits are returned if candidates receive 15 per cent of valid votes cast.

In the March 1998 election, 163 candidates signed up to run in the province's 52 ridings.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For the first feature in this series, on enumeration, check Communications Nova Scotia's news release website at www.gov.ns.ca/news/, e-mail CNSrelease@gov.ns.ca or phone 902-424-4492.