Voting as an elector with sight loss before 1930
The Dominion Elections Act of 1874 outlined the voting processes in Canada, especially concerning voter’s rights. The Act establishes that voters shall have privacy when casting their ballot and have the right to have their ballot remain private, especially from the Deputy Returning Officer. For voters who were blind, this was not an option.
Beginning in 1930, CNIB began to advocate for secrecy and independence for electors who were blind. Prior to 1930, an elector who was blind or partially sighted could only vote by dictating their preference aloud to an elections officer. The deputy returning officer would determine the medical condition of the voter by ensuring that they took an oath, which read:
“I solemnly swear that I am unable to read and to understand the ballot papers so as to mark the same, (or) that I am incapacitated by physical cause from voting without the assistance of the Deputy Returning Officer.”
After the oath had been taken, the Deputy Returning Officer would then mark the ballot per the voter’s instruction in the presence of sworn agents of the candidates. Although the deputy returning officer had taken an oath that they would act without partiality and follow the law, this method of voting presented significant issues to voters with sight loss, including lack of independence and privacy, and risk of intimidation. Polling locations were often located in hotel lobbies or other busy locations and the elector could not be certain passersby did not hear their vote.
Food for thought: What does privacy and independence mean to you when voting?
CNIB’s Advocacy Efforts in 1930
In the spring of 1930, a special committee was appointed to consider amending the Dominion Elections Act. On March 19, 1930, Mr. Richard Myers, Assistant General Secretary of CNIB, was called to appear before the special committee. Mr. Myers told committee members that CNIB had been approached by many blind electors requesting the organization to prepare a statement and to make suggestions to Parliament for an alternate procedure to allow blind electors to vote.
He told the committee that the current system had the deputy returning officer, in the presence of sworn agents of the candidates, mark the ballot on behalf of the elector and deposit it into the ballot box. Mr. Myers said this “was the very next thing to open voting”. His recommendation was that electors who were blind be able to choose someone to help them mark the ballot, instead of the deputy returning officer and agents of the candidates. He proposed an amendment to the committee:
“When a voter who is incapacitated by blindness has subscribed to form 28, he may have the assistance of a relative or friend, as he or she may select, and no other person, except as when voting within the meaning of the section preceding. Such sighted assistant shall accompany the blind voter to the polling booth and mark the ballot paper as directed by such voter. Such sighted assistant may only act for one blind voter in any one election, and before entering the polling booth shall subscribe to the following oath:
I swear (or affirm) that I am well acquainted with John Doe who is incapacitated by blindness.
That I will faithfully mark his or her ballot paper as directed by the said John Doe.
That I will not divulge the name of any candidate voted for.
That I will not have this day assisted any other blind voter.”
Mr. Myers said that an amendment to the Dominion Elections Act at the federal level would make it easier for CNIB to advocate to provinces and municipalities to make similar amendments. He told the committee that CNIB was “gradually raising the status of the blind in Canada, and the situation is tremendously different to what it was when this Elections Act was first brought into existence…Ever since the War, the status of the blind has been raised to an enormous extent, and to such an extent that I cannot begin to explain to you the difference between today and the year 1917 or 1918.”
Mr. Myers told the committee that under the current procedure, many blind men refused to vote as they felt they were subject to humiliation. “Many of these blind people have real intelligence; they are really intellectual men. I have in mind at the present time Mr. Swift, our librarian, who absolutely refuses to vote. Then there is Captain Baker, and Mr. McQuaig, who also refuse to vote under the present system. They take the view that they should be allowed to take their wives to the polling booths with them.”
On May 21, 1930, the Committee agreed to the recommendation that blind voters be allowed to have a relative or friend mark their ballots for them.
On May 27, 1930, Mr. Lucien Cannon, the Solicitor General, brought forward a Bill to the House of Commons to amend the Dominion Elections Act to carry into effect the recommendations of the special committee. He introduced Bill 309, An Act to Amend the Dominion Elections Act. Section 4 of this Act, he said, would “provide for the voting of blind men.”
“4. Subsection ten of section sixty-three of the said Act is repealed and the following is substituted therefor:
63. (10) The deputy returning officer on the application of any voter who is unable to read, or is incapacitated, from any physical cause other than blindness, from voting in the manner prescribed by this Act, shall require the voter making such application to make oath in Form No. 38 of his incapacity to vote without assistance, and shall thereafter assist such voter by marking his ballot paper in the manner directed by such voter in the presence of the sworn agents of the candidates or of the sworn electors representing the candidates in the polling station and of no other person, and place such ballot in the ballot box.
(10A) The deputy returning officer shall either deal with a blind voter in the same manner as with an illiterate or otherwise incapacitated voter, or, at the request of any blind voter who has taken the oath in Form No. 38, and is accompanied by a friend, shall permit such friend to accompany the blind voter into the voting compartment and mark the voter’s ballot for him.
(10B) Any friend who is permitted to mark the ballot of a blind voter as aforesaid shall first be required to make an oath that he will keep secret the name or names of the candidate and candidates for whom the ballot of such blind voter is marked by him, and no person shall at any polling station be allowed to act as the friend of more than one blind voter.”
The amended Dominion Elections Act was brought into force in July 1930, and electors who were blind or partially sighted could bring a friend of relative to the polling station to assist in marking the ballot.
Intersectional barriers to voting
Mr. Meyers told the committee that there were roughly 7,000 Canadians who were blind at the time, or an estimated 1 in 800 voters. It is important to remember that by 1930, only white men and women could vote without any status requirements. While Indigenous veterans had the right to vote, Indigenous men and women were prevented from voting federally, dependent on their status, until 1960 and 1985, respectively. By 1963, the universal franchise was extended to all Canadians, including Japanese, Chinese, Black, and other racial, ethnic, and religious groups.
Food for thought: Why is it important to consider the compounding effects of disability with race, ethnicity, and religion?
Advocacy through the years
Many electors who are blind or partially sighted still choose to have a trusted friend or relative accompany them to the polling location and assist them in marking their ballot. Since 1930, the federal government has included many distinctions to make voting practices more equitable to Canadians with sight loss. CNIB has advocated for many of these changes, and continues to advocate for accessible and inclusive elections.
- In 1981, the House of Commons Special Committee on the Disabled and the Handicapped released a report, Obstacles, which showed that many barriers to accessible voting remained in Canada. Among the recommendations in the report were including a mail-in ballot process, that polling places accommodate mobility for people with disabilities, and that poll workers be informed of the needs of voters with disabilities.
- In 1987, Parliament introduced Bill C-79, which responded to some of the recommendations of the Committee and of the Chief Electoral Officer’s reports to Parliament. Bill C-79 included that all advanced poling stations and all centralized polling stations be in buildings with level access. This piece of legislation died on the Order Paper when Parliament dissolved ahead of the 1988 election – but the Chief Electoral Officer continued to implement the legislation’s level access measure, and a report following the 1988 election showed more than 92 percent of polling stations had level access.
- In June 1992, Bill C-78 was passed with amendments to the Canada Elections Act, which was due, in large part, to the advocacy efforts of people with disabilities and organizations that represented people with disabilities. Bill C-78 amended the Canada Elections Act to include many of the accommodations we know today, including a tactile template for use by electors who are blind or partially sighted, interpretation at the polls for electors with a disability, and public education campaigns to provide information to Canadians most likely to experience difficulty at the polls.
- The 1992 Referendum on the Charlottetown Accord – a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution – was printed in braille, in consultation with CNIB.
- During the 2000 general election, Elections Canada worked with CNIB and other stakeholders to include service offerings to electors with disabilities. These changes included providing a general information kit to voters in Braille, large print, and audio, and hiring liaison offers to communicate with target associations during the election.
- By the 2019 federal election, accessibility measures included a new, updated ballot with larger print and increased contrast, a magnifier with a light, braille and large print list of candidates, tactile and braille templates, and the ability to bring a support person to mark the ballot. In 2019, electors who were blind or partially sighted were also able to use their own assistive devices to mark their ballot, including their own magnifier or artificial intelligence applications via their smartphone device.
Though much has been done since 1930 to increase the accessibility of voting for electors who are blind or partially sighted, there is still no way for an elector who is blind to independently mark their ballot and verify their selection. CNIB continues to advocate for enhanced measures that accommodate a range of sight loss – including bigger, bolder, and brighter font on ballots for those with low vision, to a telephone voting option for those who would prefer to cast their ballot at home over the phone.
Technology also presents new opportunities for electors who are blind or partially sighted to cast their ballots independently, including the use of the elector’s preferred magnifying device behind the voting screen, or use of artificial intelligence applications on a smartphone device.
Food for thought: During elections, some cities waive public transit fees to encourage people to vote, and to make accessing the polls easier. What are other ways that we can create more accessible voting?