Australian Clayton Treloar has only lived in Canada for six months, but somehow the Australian's name has wound up on the official electoral list -- and as a result he could conceivably cast a ballot in the next federal election.
Treloar received a voter information card in the mail last week like millions of others across the country.
His name is stamped on the card in bold, capital letters along with the words: "If your name and address appear on this card, you are eligible to vote."
But Treloar, a permanent resident who moved to Canada in January as a landed immigrant and only became a permanent resident in March, can't figure out how his name ended up on the official electoral list.
Only Canadian citizens are eligible to cast a ballot.
Treloar and his wife -- who is Canadian but still hasn't received her voter information card -- have lived in their Whitby, Ont. home since April, and he is at a loss to explain how Elections Canada would even have his address.
"I don't even know where they got my name from. I'm very careful when I give out my information like this," he told CTV.ca.
Treloar, 36, said his biggest concern is that there are tens of thousands of permanent residents in Ontario -- and he may be just one of many to have received such a card in the mail.
"That was my biggest concern. I thought well, if I've got one of these how many other permanent residents sifted through the system?"
Grace Lake, Elections Canada spokesperson for the Toronto region, said the card alone doesn't entitle the Australian to vote.
"It is not illegal for a non-Canadian to be on the voters list. Just because someone is on the voters list does not mean that they can just go and vote -- they still have to prove their identity. But it is illegal -- it is against the Canada Elections Act -- for a non-Canadian to vote," Lake said.
Under current Elections Canada ID requirements, a Voter Information Card must be accompanied by one of three options in order to cast a ballot:
- one original piece of government-issued ID, with a photo, name and address
- two original pieces of ID, both containing the person's name and one containing their address, such as a health card or hydro bill
- the voter must swear an oath and be vouched for by an elector who is on the list and can verify their identity.
Citizens who haven't received a voter information card can also vote, so long as their name is on the list at their local polling station and they provide proper identification.
If Treloar so wished -- and he is clear he has no intention to do so -- he could easily meet the first two sets of criteria and qualify to vote.
Lake said Treloar doesn't have a "free pass" to vote. But she did concede that the card means he is on the electoral list.
In such cases, she suggested, the recipient should simply mail the card back to Elections Canada.
Lake couldn't explain how Treloar ended up on the list. She said Immigration Canada may have passed his information on to Elections Canada, or he may have identified himself as a Canadian during an Elections Canada door-to-door revision of the list -- though he said that definitely didn't happen.
"One tries to avoid errors, but there are 23.5 million people on the list," Lake said, suggesting it's inevitable that mistakes will occur.
She said the agency receives a small number of complaints each election from non-citizens who mistakenly received voter information cards.
Treloar said he brought his story to CTV over concerns the outcome of the Oct. 14 election could be affected, or even deemed void, if major mistakes were made when cards were sent out.
With additional reporting by Michael Stittle
