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Statutes of Newfoundland 1993


CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER 56

AN ACT TO AMEND THE ELECTION ACT AND THE ELECTIONS ACT, 1991

(Assented to December 17, 1993)

Analysis

ELECTION ACT

1. S.96 R&S
Costs of recount

2. S.158 Amdt.
Judge may make rules

ELECTIONS ACT, 1991

3. S.177 R&S
Cost of recount

4. S.267 Amdt.
Rules

5. S.342 Added
Transitional provision

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

THE ELECTION ACT


RSN1990 cE-3 as amended

1. Section 96 of the Election Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Costs of recount

96. Each party to a recount or final addition shall bear his or her own costs resulting from the recount or final addition.

2. (1) Subsection 158(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Judges may make rules

158. (1) The judges of the Trial Division may make, amend and revoke rules for the regulation of the practice and procedure with respect to election petitions and the trial of election petitions and the rules, while in force, shall have the same effect as if they were made by this Act.

(2) Section 158 of the Act is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following:

(3) All costs, charges and expenses of and incidental to the presentation of an election petition and to the proceedings consequent on that presentation shall be defrayed by the parties to, or those opposing, the petition in the manner and in the proportion as a judge may order under the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), costs shall not be awarded against the Chief Electoral Officer or a returning officer unless he or she has failed to comply with this Act and

(a) he or she was not acting in good faith;

(b) his or her failure was unreasonable; or

(c) he or she intended to

(i) affect the result of the election,

(ii) permit a person to vote whom he or she believed was not qualified to vote, or

(iii) prevent a person from voting whom he or she believed was qualified to vote.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (3), a judge shall disallow costs, charges, or expenses claimed by a party to a controverted election petition which, in the opinion of the judge, have been caused by vexatious conduct, unfounded allegations or unfounded objections on the part of that party, and shall order that party to pay the costs, charges or expenses of other parties to the action incurred as a result of that conduct, those allegations or objections, whether that party is or is not on the whole successful.

ELECTIONS ACT, 1991

1992 cE-3.1 as amended

3. Section 177 of the Elections Act, 1991 is repealed and the following substituted:

Cost of recount

177. Each party to a recount or final addition shall bear his or her own costs resulting from the recount or final addition.

4. (1) Subsection 267(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Rules

267. (1) The procedure governing the hearing of a matter and the provisions respecting the awarding of costs found in the Judicature Act and the Rules of Court apply, with the necessary changes, to election applications and the trial of them.

(2) Section 267 of the Act is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following:

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), costs shall not be awarded against the Chief Electoral Officer or a returning officer unless he or she has failed to comply with this Act and

(a) he or she was not acting in good faith;

(b) his or her failure was unreasonable; or

(c) he or she intended to

(i) affect the result of the election,

(ii) permit a person to vote whom he or she believed was not qualified to vote, or

(iii) prevent a person from voting whom he or she believed was qualified to vote.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a judge shall disallow costs, charges, or expenses claimed by a party to a controverted election petition which, in the opinion of the judge, have been caused by vexatious conduct, unfounded allegations or unfounded objections on the part of that party, and shall order that party to pay the costs, charges or expenses of other parties to the action incurred as a result of that conduct, those allegations or objections, whether that party is or is not on the whole successful.

5. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 341 the following:

Transitional provision

342. (1) If Part III of the Act is proclaimed into force before Part I, a reference in Part III to a

(a) "candidate" shall be considered to be a reference to a candidate as defined in paragraph 2(b) of the Election Act.

(b) "polling day" shall be considered to be a reference to the day of polling referred to in section 35 of the Election Act; and

(c) "revised list of electors" shall be considered to be a reference to the "list of electors" referred to in section 34 of the Election Act,

until Part I is proclaimed into force.

(2) If Part III of the Act is proclaimed into force before Part I, the references to Part I in subparagraph 284(4)(a) and subsection 284(7) shall be considered to be references to the appropriate provisions of the Election Act until Part I is proclaimed into force.

(3) Where, in a proclamation bringing Part III into force, that Part is declared not to apply to a district association and another proclamation is not issued, before a general election or a by-election is held, declaring that Part III applies to a district association, Part III shall, for the purpose of the election, apply to a candidate who has been endorsed by a registered political party as if the candidate were a non-affiliated candidate.

(4) This section shall be considered to have come into force on September 30, 1993.

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