Canada

Section 95, subsection (3) states:

The notice of confirmation of registration shall invite the elector to contact the returning officer if he or she

• (a) requires a language or sign language interpreter;
• (b) requires level access and his or her polling station does not have it; or
• (c) is unable to attend at a polling station because of a physical disability.
•  

Section 119, subsection (1) states:

Before voting begins, each returning officer shall provide each deputy returning officer in his or her electoral district with…

• (d) an adequate number of templates, provided by the Chief Electoral Officer, to enable electors who are visually impaired to mark their ballots without assistance…

 

Section 121 states:

(1) Subject to subsection (2), a polling station shall be in premises with level access.

(2) If a returning officer is unable to secure suitable premises with level access for use as a polling station, the returning officer may, with the prior approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, locate the polling station in premises without level access…

Section 154 states:

(1) The deputy returning officer, on request by an elector who is unable to vote in the manner prescribed by this Act because he or she cannot read or has a physical disability, shall assist the elector in the presence of the poll clerk.

(2) The deputy returning officer shall, on request, provide a template to an elector who has a visual impairment to assist him or her in marking his or her ballot.

Section 155 states:

(1) If an elector requires assistance to vote, a friend, the spouse, the common-law partner or a relative of the elector or a relative of the elector’s spouse or common-law partner may accompany the elector into the voting compartment and assist the elector to mark his or her ballot.

(2) No person shall as a friend assist more than one elector for the purpose of marking a ballot.

(3) A friend or relative who wishes to assist an elector in marking a ballot shall first take an oath in the prescribed form, stating that he or she:

• (a) will mark the ballot in the manner directed by the elector;
• (b) will not disclose the name of the candidate for whom the elector voted;
• (c) will not try to influence the elector in choosing a candidate; and
• (d) has not, during the current election period, assisted another person, as a friend, to mark a ballot.

(4) No person who assists an elector under this section shall, directly or indirectly, disclose the candidate for whom the elector voted.

 

Section 156 states:

A deputy returning officer may appoint and swear a language or sign language interpreter to assist the officer in communicating to an elector any information that is necessary to enable him or her to vote.

 

Section 157 states:

(1) At a polling station that has been established in a home for the aged or in a chronic care facility, when the deputy returning officer considers it necessary, the deputy returning officer and the poll clerk shall:

• (a) suspend temporarily the voting in the polling station; and
• (b) with the approval of the person in charge of the institution, carry the ballot box, ballots and other necessary election documents from room to room in the institution to take the votes of electors who are confined to bed and ordinarily resident in the polling division in which the institution is situated.

(2) When the vote of an elector who is confined to bed is taken, the deputy returning officer shall give the elector the assistance necessary to enable the elector to vote, and not more than one representative of each candidate may be present.

 

Section 159, subsection (1) states:

An elector who is in a wheelchair or who has a physical disability, and who is unable to vote without difficulty in his or her polling division because it does not have a polling station with level access, may apply for a transfer certificate to vote at another polling station with level access in the same electoral district.

 

Section 168 states:

(6) An advance polling station shall be in premises with level access. (7) If a returning officer is unable to secure suitable premises with level access for use as an advance polling station, the returning officer may, with the prior approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, locate the advance polling station in premises without level access.

 

Section 216 states:

(1) If an elector is, because of a physical disability, unable to vote in the manner described in this Division, the deputy returning officer shall assist him or her by

• (a) completing the declaration on the outer envelope and writing the elector’s name where his or her signature is to be written; and
• (b) marking the special ballot as directed by the elector in his or her presence and in the presence of another elector selected by the elector as a witness.

(2) The deputy returning officer and an elector acting as a witness shall

• (a) sign a note on the outer envelope indicating that the elector was assisted; and
• (b) keep secret the name of the candidate for whom the elector voted.

 

Section 217 states:

(1) An elector who is a patient in a service hospital or convalescent institution during the voting times fixed for the polling stations in his or her unit is deemed to be a member of the unit under the command of the officer in charge of the hospital or institution.

(2) If no deputy returning officer has been designated for a service hospital or convalescent institution, the deputy returning officer for the unit to which the hospital or institution belongs is the deputy returning officer for electors who are patients in the hospital or institution.

(3) A deputy returning officer for electors who are patients in a service hospital or convalescent institution may, if that officer considers it advisable and the commanding officer for the unit approves, go from room to room to administer and collect the votes of electors who are confined to bed.

 

Section 243 states:

(1) When an elector personally goes to the office of the returning officer and is unable to read or because of a physical disability is unable to vote in the manner described in this Division, the designated election officer shall assist the elector by

• (a) completing the declaration on the outer envelope and writing the elector’s name where his or her signature is to be written; and
• (b) marking the ballot as directed by the elector in his or her presence.

(2) An election officer who assists an elector under subsection (1) shall indicate, by signing the note on the outer envelope, that the elector was assisted.

 

Section 243.1, subsection (1) states:

On application of an elector who is unable to read, or who is unable to vote in the manner described in this Division because of a physical disability, and who is unable to personally go to the office of the returning officer because of a physical disability, the designated election officer shall go to the elector's dwelling place and, in the presence of a witness who is chosen by the elector, assist the elector by

• (a) completing the declaration on the outer envelope and writing the elector's name where the elector's signature is to be written; and
• (b) marking the ballot as directed by the elector in the elector's presence. (2) The election officer and the witness who assist an elector under subsection (1) shall indicate, by signing the note on the outer envelope, that the elector was assisted.

 

Section 259 states:

(1) If an elector is unable to read or because of a physical disability is unable to vote under this Division, the deputy returning officer shall assist the elector by

• (a) completing the declaration on the outer envelope and writing the elector’s name where his or her signature is to be written; and
• (b) marking the special ballot as directed by the elector in his or her presence and in the presence of the poll clerk.

Section 409, subsection (1) states:

Personal expenses of a candidate are his or her electoral campaign expenses, other than election expenses, that are reasonably incurred in relation to his or her campaign and include…

• (d) in the case of a candidate who has a disability, additional personal expenses that are related to the disability.

 

Section 538, subsection (5) states:

A returning officer may, with the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, constitute polling divisions that consist of two or more institutions where seniors or persons with a physical disability reside.

 

Excerpts from the Canada Elections Act (2000, last amended 2014)

Section 14 of the Constitution Act of 1982 states:

A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter.

 

Excerpt from the from the consolidated Constitution Act of Canada (1867, last amended 1982)