The Procedure and House Affairs Committee met to study special ballot voting, hearing from Stéphane Perrault, Chief Electoral Officer; Danielle Duquette, Special Voting Rules Administrator; Michel Roussel, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer; Kati Csaba, Director General of Consular Affairs at Global Affairs Canada; and James Salt, Coordinating Officer for Special Voting Rules at National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Stéphane Perrault explained that special ballots have expanded since 1993 to serve various elector categories, including Canadians abroad, incarcerated individuals, and those facing barriers, with over 1.2 million special ballots cast in the 2025 election. He noted that the high volume led to administrative errors, prompting an internal review with recommendations to be shared soon, and highlighted that late ballot returns from international electors remain high, especially in non-fixed-date elections where late applicants had only an 8% return rate. He recommended adding time at the start of the election period rather than the end to improve returns, and opposed electronic voting due to cybersecurity and trust concerns, while noting that proxy voting was eliminated in 1993 due to secrecy and administrative issues.
Danielle Duquette detailed security measures for returned ballots, including verification of signatures, bar code matching, and checks for envelope integrity, with ballots stored under lock and key in restricted-access areas. She confirmed that Elections Canada's service centre received over 10,000 phone inquiries during the last election, which are analyzed for trends to inform improvements.
Kati Csaba outlined Global Affairs Canada's limited role under a 1993 agreement with Elections Canada, which involves providing logistical support through diplomatic missions, such as answering general questions, accepting ballots for onward delivery via DHL, and posting information online, but not determining eligibility or organizing in-person voting. She noted that 164 missions submitted ballots in the 2025 election, with 56.5% of issued ballots returned on time, and identified challenges including resource constraints at missions and electors failing to provide contact details. She disagreed with the idea of in-person voting at embassies, citing the need for legislative changes and significant resources, and stated that Global Affairs cannot support provincial elections under current legislation.
James Salt described the Canadian Armed Forces' process for military polling stations, which operate on a 36-day calendar with a six-day voting window, using the Guardian database to determine electors' ridings based on their home address. He reported that over 76,000 of nearly 104,000 eligible CAF electors voted in the 2025 election, with all 25,000 special ballots returned on time, and noted that four ballots were spoiled due to procedural errors. He confirmed that permanent residents and members under 18 are not eligible to vote, and that the CAF collaborates with Global Affairs and Elections Canada to transport ballots from overseas deployments, including using couriers and military aircraft.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.