In this section
Subject matter
- The Election Act and the mechanisms for changing it
- Electoral governance stakeholders
General objective
Insure the Election Act changes in a timely, impartial, fair and transparent manner.
Background
The Chief Electoral Officer is responsible for the application of the Election Act. He or she is appointed by and reports directly to the Assemblée nationale.
Members of the Assemblée nationale have the power to amend the Election Act. As part of the legislative process, they can conduct consultations, in particular with the Chief Electoral Officer. He or she may recommend amendments to the Election Act or be consulted by the government on any legislation of an electoral nature.
The advisory committee gives its opinion on all matters relating to the Election Act, except those concerning electoral representation. It is made up of the Chief Electoral Officer and three representatives from each political party represented in the Assemblée nationale, including at least one elected member.
Challenges
The Election Act was last revised in 1989. Since then, several important amendments have been made to it. Nevertheless:
- What amendments are made to the Election Act, and when, depend on ministerial and legislative priorities. There is no set process for reviewing the Election Act on a regular basis.
- The Chief Electoral Officer has no formal mechanism for ensuring that his or her recommendations to amend the Election Act are taken into account.
- Political parties represented in the Assemblée nationale can express their views on amending the Election Act, but other stakeholders in the electoral process have no official forum for doing so.
Recommendations
We make two recommendations for legislative amendments related to electoral governance. In addition, we will be taking one complementary action.
Rethinking electoral governance
- Provide for a review process of the Election Act at the Assemblée nationale after each general election.
This process would involve three main steps: a recommendations report from the Chief Electoral Officer, its study by a parliamentary committee, and a report from this committee accompanied by a response from the Minister. This would make it possible to update the Election Act on a regular basis, improve transparency in governance, and allow other stakeholders to take part in the discussion. - Publish the Chief Electoral Officer’s annual report and the report on political financing together.
The two reports we have to file each year should be tabled at the same time in the Assemblée nationale. This would encourage exchanges between the Chief Electoral Officer and the members of the Assemblée nationale.
Complementary action by Élections Québec: publishing a post-election report with recommendations for the next election cycle.