Organization : Elections New Brunswick
Facility : Voter FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Province : New Brunswick
Country : Canada
Voter FAQs Frequently Asked Questions : http://www.electionsnb.ca/content/enb/en/resources/faq.html
Home Page : http://www.electionsnb.ca/content/enb/en.html
Voter FAQs Frequently Asked Questions :
Q. Do I need to bring anything when I go vote?
** If you received a Voter Information Card in the mail at your current address, and the name and address information on it is correct, your name is on the List of Electors and you will not need to show ID to vote.
** Although you do not need a Voter Information Card to vote, if you bring it with you to vote, you will be able to vote more quickly, because your name will be found on the list much faster.
** If you are not on the List of Electors, you will have to be added before voting.
Q. How do you vote?
** Electors will receive a paper ballot with circles next to each candidate’s name or plebiscite question.
** The ballot is placed in a secrecy sleeve so that they can carry the ballot in the polling location without showing their choices.
** Using a regular marker, electors simply have to fill in the circles as appropriate, and replace the ballot into the secrecy sleeve.
** Electors then carry the ballot and sleeve to the ballot box.
Q. What are special ballots, and who can use them to vote?
** I am, or know, a person who is ill at home and cannot go to the polls on polling day- how can I or my friend vote?
** Special Ballots are a form of ballot used to allow voting by people who are outside of their own electoral district or electoral region or who otherwise cannot or do not want to go to the polls.
** This includes home-bound voters, those in hospital, or those travelling, working or studying out of their district during an election.
** Any returning office can issue a special ballot for a voter from any electoral district or electoral region in the province.
** For home-bound or hospitalized voters, election officials from the local returning office will take a ballot and ballot box to the voter to allow the person to vote independently.
** A care-giver spouse of a home-bound voter may vote at the same time, if they wish.
** Simply call the returning office to make arrangements to vote.
** Voters travelling, working or studying in the province but out of their own district during an election may vote at any returning office for their home electoral district.
** Those travelling, working or studying out of the province must contact their home returning office, which will send a ballot to them; call or e-mail as soon as possible, to ensure your ballot can be returned on time.
Q. Who are the candidates in the election and how can I get in touch with them?
** A list of the candidates is available on the Elections NB website at electionsnb.ca.
** Alternately, you can call your Returning Office for a list of the candidates in your region.
** The Returning Office has contact information for the candidates.
Q. Will someone come and drive me to the polls if I do not have access to transportation?
You will need to contact the candidate of your choice if you require transportation to the polls.
Q. I want to lodge a complaint against an election worker.
** Advise your Returning Officer by phone.
** If you are not satisfied with the response, give your complaint in writing to the Returning Office and send a copy to Elections NB.
Q. What was the turnout in my district in the last provincial election?
A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer is available from Elections NB in paper form, or can be downloaded from electionsnb.ca.
Q. A friend or family member will be in a correctional facility during the election- can he or she vote?
Yes special ballots are used to enable inmates in correctional facilities to vote. Information and application forms are sent to all facilities in the province so these voters can obtain ballots.
Q. What is an Additional Poll?
** Additional polls are held mostly at nursing homes, special care homes, and extended care units of some hospitals.
** It is a poll which moves from bed to bed on election day to take the votes of eligible voters who are unable to easily vote.
Q. Am I allowed to vote?
A person is qualified to vote in a provincial election if they are :
** a Canadian citizen;
** eighteen years of age on or before polling day;
** ordinarily resident in the province for 40 days immediately preceding the date of the election;
** ordinarily resident in the electoral district at the date of the election.
A person is qualified to vote in a municipality, school district, or regional health authority election if they are :
** a Canadian citizen;
** eighteen years of age on or before polling day;
** ordinarily resident in the province for 40 days immediately preceding the date of the election;
** ordinarily resident in the municipality, rural community, school subdistrict, or health subregion at the date of the election.
This means if you have lived in NB for 40 days and move even on the day of the election, you are allowed to vote at your new address. Note that in this case, you will have to be added to the List of Electors at your new address.
Q. How is my name added to the List of Electors?
** I just turned 18;
** I became a Canadian;
** I moved here from another province.
Between elections:
** An elector may visit any Service New Brunswick service centre to request his or her information be updated on the Register of Electors.
** This opportunity is also offered to residents when they make changes to their address or legal name and wish to update their drivers license, for example. Service New Brunswick began to collect this information on August 1, 2007.
** The information is collected and sent to Elections NB, where a match attempt is made with the names and addresses found on the Register of Electors.
** If the matching elector is found, the update is performed immediately.
** If the name and address is not found on the Register of Electors, Elections NB will send the resident a certification form and a stamped return envelope.
** Before a resident’s name may be added to the Register of Electors, section 20.8(1) of the Elections Act requires that a signed certification that the elector qualifications are met be received by Elections NB.
** When the certification is returned, the elector will be added to the Register of Electors immediately.
** Elections NB also receives information from Elections Canada twice a year.
** We attempt to match information with the Register of Electors, and in many cases update the NB register.
** However, in some cases we cannot add a voter’s name due to problems with the address or other data.
During elections:
** You can be added to the List of Electors during an election by visiting a Returning Office or Satellite Office and completing an Application for Addition form.
** Alternately, you may be added to the List of Electors at an advance or ordinary polling station when you go to vote.
** In either case, you will need to bring one or more pieces of identification that between them show your name, civic address and signature (but no bank or credit cards).
** A New Brunswick driver’s license has all the necessary information; if you don’t have a license, your Medicare card shows your name and signature, but you will need another item, such as a passport, rent receipt, or utility bill, to show your current address.
** You will then have to sign the application.
** If you don’t have identification documents, you may also have an eligible elector who is on the List of Electors at the polling station vouch for you, and swear an oath that you meet the qualifications to vote.
Q. What ID do I need to get added to the voters list?
** For someone to get added to the voters list, they must show one or more pieces of ID that between them shows their name, current address, and signature.
** A driver’s license has all three required ID items, but especially in the case of students, who move around a lot, may not have a person’s current address while at school.
** A Medicare card has a person’s name and signature, but you will need something else to show your address.
** If someone has moved recently they may have a lease or rent receipt that has their name and current address, or a utility bill with their name and current address, but the name on the bill has to match the name of the person applying to be added.
** All full-time university or community college students will have student ID that has their name and signature, but usually not an address.
** Some of the universities or colleges may issue a confirmation of registration that includes a student’s local address as well as their home address, but this varies from one school to another.
Q. Where do I vote?
** Students voting in the district they live in while at school vote at either the advance or ordinary polls, like other voters in the district.
** Poll locations are posted on our website, and advertised in daily papers; you can also call the returning office to find your poll, and students living off-campus will receive a Voter Information Card at their house or apartment.
** Students who want to vote for their home district, but can’t get home for the advance or ordinary polls, can vote from their school district by getting a special ballot at the returning office for their school district or any returning office in the area.
Q. Can a student who is originally from another province vote in a New Brunswick election?
A student from another province studying at a New Brunswick university or college can only vote if they have made New Brunswick their ordinary residence (and have been here for more than 40 days before an election). Generally, if you are still driving on another province’s drivers’ license, living on their student loans, and are covered by their medical care system, you are still considered ordinarily resident in your home province and cannot vote here.
Q. What are the voting rules for students attending University or Community College inside or outside of New Brunswick?
I am a student at school. How can I vote?
** Students from other provinces studying at New Brunswick universities or colleges can only vote if they have made New Brunswick their ordinary residence (and have been here for more than 40 days before an election).
** Eligible electors at a Community College or University in the province but outside their “home” region can choose to vote in the election in either the district where they ordinarily live or the district in which they live while attending college or university.
** Students voting in the region they live in while at school vote at either the advance or ordinary polls, like other voters in the region.
** Students who want to vote for their home district, but can’t get home for the advance or ordinary polls, can vote from their school’s district by getting a special ballot at the local returning office.
** Students in university or college outside the province must vote for their “home” district by special ballot; contact the region’s returning office for an Application for a Special Ballot Paper, or print one off the website and fax it to the office.
Q. What if I’m studying at a college or university outside New Brunswick?
** Students in university or college outside the province must vote for their “home” district by special ballot; contact the district returning office for an Application for a Special Ballot Paper, or print one off our website and fax it to the office.
** If you are not sure if you are on the voters list, check with the returning office, and if necessary fax a completed Application for Addition to the List of Electors, with a photocopy of your ID, at the same time you send in your application for a special ballot.
** The returning office will send you a special ballot, envelopes in which to return it, and an instruction sheet, by priority mail.
** You must ensure that your ballot gets back to the returning office by 8:00 p.m. on polling day for your vote to be counted.
Q. What are special ballots, and who can use them to vote?
I am, or know, a person who is ill at home and cannot go to the polls on polling day- how can I or my friend vote?
** Special Ballots are a form of ballot used to allow voting by people who are outside of their own electoral district or electoral region or who otherwise cannot or do not want to go to the polls.
** This includes home-bound voters, those in hospital, or those travelling, working or studying out of their district during an election.
** Any returning office can issue a special ballot for a voter from any electoral district or electoral region in the province.
** For home-bound or hospitalized voters, election officials from the local returning office will take a ballot and ballot box to the voter to allow the person to vote independently. A care-giver spouse of a home-bound voter may vote at the same time, if they wish.
** Simply call the returning office to make arrangements to vote.
** Voters travelling, working or studying in the province but out of their own district during an election may vote at any returning office for their home electoral district.
** Those travelling, working or studying out of the province must contact their home returning office, which will send a ballot to them; call or e-mail as soon as possible, to ensure your ballot can be returned on time.