Merci, Monsieur le President. Your Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is pleased to provide its report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election.

Executive Summary

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is pleased to Report on its review of the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election.

The Elections and Plebiscites Act requires the Chief Electoral Officer to present a report on the administration of the election within six months of the election. The Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election was tabled in this House by the Speaker on May 28, 2020, and was referred to this committee.

During its review, committee has held four public hearings during which they heard from the Chief Electoral Officer, Dr. Aleksander Essex, Dr. Nicole Goodman, MLA Julie Green, David Wasylciw, and OpenNWT. Committee thanks these witnesses for sharing their opinions, experiences and expertise.

This report includes committee's response to the recommendations of the Chief Electoral Officer and other presenters and makes the following recommendations from committee:

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to require regulations be developed governing voting by electronic means, including setting cybersecurity standards, technical specifications, procurement guidelines, and an audit mechanism.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Elections NWT implement and administer an election rebate program as laid out in this report for candidates starting with the 2023 Territorial Election.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that "email address" be included under Section 54(2) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act. Further, that email addresses should only be used to maintain or update the Register of Electors and not be shared with any candidate.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to require a public body at request to provide the personal information held by that body.

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Section 73 of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to state that the list of electors shall be provided to candidates as soon as possible.

Recommendation 6

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Section 121 and Section 309 of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to include a prohibition on the sale of cannabis during the hours a poll is open on polling day.

Recommendation 7

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to expressly prohibit liquor and cannabis as campaign expenses.

Recommendation 8

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to prohibit photography, videography, or phone calls within the polling station and to authorize the Chief Electoral Officer to issue guidance on the usage of electronics in polling stations.

Recommendation 9

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to prohibit a candidate's polling agent from being able to assist an elector in casting a vote.

Recommendation 10

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Chief Electoral Officer investigate how other provinces or territories allow residents to cast votes from any polling station and report back to the Legislative Assembly within six months on the outcomes of that investigation.

Recommendation 11

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to remove the requirement for electors to act as witnesses. An election officer and one other election official should be required, with candidates permitted one representative each.

Recommendation 12

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to allow for a candidate's financial report to be submitted electronically.

Recommendation 13

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Section 144(1) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to allow for voting in the office of the returning officer to commence on the 21^st day before polling day.

Recommendation 14

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Elections NWT follow the same procurement practices as the Legislative Assembly and publicly disclose all contracts, the procurement process used for each contract, and the amount of each contract in the Elections NWT Annual Report.

Recommendation 15

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Chief Electoral Officer undertake a review of best practices on election reporting and return to the Legislative Assembly within six months with the findings of that review and any potential amendments to the Elections and Plebiscites Act.

Recommendation 16

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Elections NWT post all election data that is included in its reports in a machine-readable format on the Elections NWT website.

Recommendation 17

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Chief Electoral Officer undertake a review of the requirements to publicly disclose a candidate's residential address and return to the Legislative Assembly within six months with the findings of that review and any potential amendments to the Elections and Plebiscites Act.

Recommendation 18

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Section 24(4) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to specify that the act applies to additional assistant returning officers the same as it does to assistant returning officers, except for the limitations specified in Section 24(4).

Recommendation 19

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to fix references to other clauses and to reflect current electronic management of the list of electors and the polling station account.