2006 CWB Election of Directors

INTRODUCTION

In 1998, the governance structure of the CWB changed. Effective December 31 of that year, a 15 member Board of Directors was formed to govern the activities and future direction of the CWB. Of this 15 member board, 5 members are appointed federally and 10 members are elected to serve 4 year terms – one being elected from each of the 10 CWB electoral districts in Canada.

Elections are held every two years to elect 5 members on a rotational basis. This rotation provides for important continuity in that a maximum of only 50% of the elected directors are replaced at a given point in time.
The schedule for the next number of years is as follows:

Elected in 2004	2006	2008	2010
District 2	District 1	District 2	District 1
District 4	District 3	District 4	District 3
District 6	District 5	District 6	District 5
District 8	District 7	District 8	District 7
District 10	District 9	District 10	District 9

ELECTION CO-ORDINATOR

In each election year, the CWB appoints an independent professional services firm to serve as the unbiased “Elector Co-ordinator” whose responsibility is to conduct the election on a fair and impartial basis.

In May of 2006, Meyers Norris Penny (MNP), a large and respected Western Canadian chartered accountancy and business advisory firm was engaged to serve as the 2006 Election Co-ordinator. MNP had successfully co-ordinated the 2004, 2002 and the 2000 CWB Election of Directors, and has extensive other election management experience as well.

The responsibilities of the Election Co-ordinator are as follows:

• To review and build on the positive experiences and procedures of the previous elections, and to correct and/or re-engineer any deficiencies.
• To determine the nomination and election timetable.
• To advertise the election process and to manage communication with all parties.
• To develop and maintain the official election website.
• To establish and maintain a toll free election information line.
• To prepare candidate nomination material and to manage the nomination process including distribution of packages to all interested parties.
• To manage and enhance where possible, the accuracy of the voters list.
• To prepare and distribute the voters packages.
• To receive and tabulate the completed ballots.
• To provide for manual recount as outlined in the regulations.
• To report the election results.
• To monitor election spending by candidates and third party interveners.

It is important to stress that the Election Co-ordinator is selected based on professional qualifications, election experience and ability to act as an unbiased and independent third party.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS

1. Election called and nominations opened.
2. Preliminary voters list made available.
3. Voter Eligibility Confirmations mailed to ALL ACTUAL producers in the voting districts, and to all NEW producers in the non-voting districts.
4. Nominations close and Slate of Candidates announced.
5. Ballot packages mailed to all eligible voters.
6. Postmark deadline for return of completed ballots.
7. Tabulation of Results.
8. Manual recount (only if required).
9. Election results announced, and elected directors subsequently take office
10. Candidate spending reports received and reviewed.
    

CANDIDATE ELIGIBILITY

Any person may become a candidate who:

1. Is a Canadian citizen
2. Has attained the age of 18 years by the day his/her nomination papers are filed.
3. Is named in a 2005/2006 or 2006/2007 permit book as an actual producer, or is a shareholder in a corporation, a member of a co-operative, or partner in a partnership that is named as an actual producer for either year.
4. Is an actual producer in the electoral district or an adjacent electoral district in which he or she will seek nomination.
5. Is neither a Member of Parliament, nor a Member of a Provincial Legislature
6. Is not employed in any way in the conduct of the 2006 CWB Directors election.

All nomination papers must be submitted to the Election Co-ordinator for receipt by 6:00 pm CT October 23rd, 2006.

Notwithstanding the above, there are several further restrictions in eligibility intended to avoid “vested interest” or “conflict of interest” situations and section 10 of the Regulations should be consulted to ensure that one’s candidacy is not subject to such restrictions.

CANDIDATE NOMINATION

A prospective candidate must complete the following steps to become a duly nominated candidate:

1. The candidate must meet the eligibility criteria referred to above and must sign a document to this effect. (Candidate’s Eligibility Declaration – Form 2006 MNP-01).
2. The candidate must sign a disclosure statement, describing any actual or potential conflicts of interest. (Candidates Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement – Form 2006 MNP-02).
3. The candidate must sign a confidentiality agreement, agreeing to restrict use and distribution of the voter’s list to his/her campaign. (Voters List Confidentiality Agreement – Form 2006 MNP-03).
4. The candidate is required to obtain the signatures of 25 qualified voters from the district in which the candidate intends to run. (Official Candidate Nomination Form – Form 2006 MNP-04).
   
   Note that we strongly recommend that at least 4 additional nominations be obtained in the event that any of the initial 25 nominators are found to be ineligible.
5. The candidate must sign an acknowledgement that he / she understands the duties of a CWB Director (Acknowledgement of the Duties of a Director – Form 2006 MNP-05)
6. The candidate should provide a two page typewritten black and white camera ready biography/position statement for inclusion in the voter’s packages. We would also recommend that a suitable black and white portrait be incorporated in this document.
7. The candidate may alternatively provide an electronic version of the biography/position statement for inclusion on the election website. This version may be in colour, and may be accompanied by a colour portrait.
8. The candidate is required to make a deposit of $500 payable to Meyers Norris Penny (In Trust). This deposit will be returned upon satisfactory filing of the Election Expense Report at the end of the election process, or if the candidate withdraws from the election within 14 days of becoming a candidate. All deposits not returned will be used to defray the costs associated with the election.

Please note that ALL REQUIREMENTS must be met and ALL DOCUMENTATION MUST BE SUPPLIED at the time the nomination is submitted to the Election Co-ordinator. Samples of all forms are included in Section 4.

CANDIDATE SPENDING LIMITS

Refer specifically to sections 24, 25, and 26 of the Regulations

Election expenses are limited to $15,000 per candidate during the official election period which is September 5th to December 1st, 2006. After the election, each candidate must provide the Election Co-ordinator with a statement listing:

• All funds and goods or services received
• Donor names and amounts received for all donations over $100.
• An accounting of all his/her election expenses.
• A declaration swearing to the accuracy of the financial statement. This statement must be provided within 60 days of the end of the election period ( Due date is February 5th, 2007).

A sample of the required expense reporting format called “ Candidate’s Financial Report” (Form 2006 MNP-08) can be found in Section 10 – Appendix, of this guide. An electronic working copy is also available in Microsoft Excel 2000 format upon request to the Election Co-ordinator.

These accounts may be audited by the Election Co-ordinator. Overspending is an offence under the CWB Act and is punishable by a monetary fine and/or a period of imprisonment.

THIRD PARTY SPENDING LIMITS

Refer specifically to sections 24, 27, and 28 of the Regulations

Third parties, (persons who are not candidates, or organizations) who incur advertising expenses ( as defined in the Regulations ) during the election period will be required to register with the Election Co-ordinator as a third-party intervenor, and such third-party intervenors will also be subject to spending limits. A third-party intervenor may not expend more than $10,000 in total during an election period for all election districts. This means that a person or organization that supports a candidate, group of candidates, or position, is limited to $10,000 in aggregate.

Overspending is an offence under the CWB Act and it punishable by a monetary fine and/or a period of imprisonment.

VOTER ELIGIBILITY

The eligibility to vote in the 2006 election is restricted to individuals who meet the following criteria:

1. Voters must be actual producers or interested parties (as defined by the CWB Act).
2. Voters must be registered in one of districts 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9
3. Voters must have attained the age of 18 years as of the last day of the election period (December 1st, 2006). If an individual is under 18 years of age they may designate someone else named in the permit book eligible to vote on their behalf.
4. A producer (as defined by the Act), may only vote once in an election.
5. A producer who produces grain in more than one electoral district will already be assigned to a voting district – usually based on default parameters, but if such a producer wishes to change voting districts, he/she must complete a District Transfer Request, and apply for such change to the Election Co-ordinator. If a producer previously elected to move from one district to another, that producer may NOT change districts again.

A preliminary voters list will be made available to the Election Co-ordinator by the CWB in early September 2006. This list will contain all actual producers as shown in the 2005/06 or 2006/07 permit records of the CWB as of late August 2006

Additionally, all actual producers in the voting districts, and all new producers in the non-voting districts will receive correspondence from the Election Co-ordinator in early September which will indicate both current mailing information and district assignment. This pre-ballot mailing provides producers with the opportunity to correct any Name / Address errors that may be present, and also facilitates correcting improper district assignments by allowing completion of a District Transfer Request (Form 2006 MNP-06)

All other producers who may still be entitled to vote, will be required to provide the Election
Co-ordinator with a Statutory Declaration Form (Form 2006 MNP-07) to prove their eligibility. This “Statutory Declaration” may be downloaded from the election website at www.cwbelection.com or may be requested by calling the election information line at 1-800-446-0890.

VOTING PROCESS

(a) Preferential Ballot

A preferential vote system will be used in accordance with Regulation to ensure that elected Directors obtain the support of the majority of producers casting votes in the district. Voters will be asked to rank the candidates in their district, in the order of their voting preference, for example, First choice, Second choice, Third choice, Fourth, etcetera.

If, after the initial count, no candidate has received a majority of First choice votes (i.e. – 50% plus 1 vote), a second count will be conducted. This second count involves eliminating the last place candidate from the process and reassigning that candidate’s votes based on his/her voter’s second choice or preference of candidate. This process will continue until one candidate receives the required 50% plus one of the votes.

If a voter does not rank all candidates on a ballot, that ballot will continue to be included in successive vote counts as long as the candidate(s) that are ranked remain in the running.

If a voter does not rank his choices in strict numerical sequence, the ballot will be counted only to the extent that a strict sequence is maintained (for example – if a ballot reflects a preferential ranking of 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, etc. only the rankings of 1 and 2 will be utilized --- even if the ranking of 3 is obvious).

(b) Voting Packages

On, or about October 30th 2006, the election co-ordinator will mail to each voter a voting package that will contain:

1. A booklet containing the biographies and/or policy statements for each candidate running in that voter’s district,
2. The official ballot form which consists of two parts:
   Part 1 which is the voting instruction summary, and
   Part 2 which is the official ballot.
3. An official postage paid return envelope.
   
   The official ballot must be returned in the official ballot envelope. In the event that a mailing address legitimately receives more than one voting package, each ballot must be returned in a separate envelope.

Failure to comply with this procedure will cause all impacted ballots to be rejected.

The ballots themselves have absolutely no markings that would identify a specific voter. The return envelopes however, have a special ballot authentication barcode printed on them for security reasons. Upon receipt of the envelope containing the completed ballot, the election co-ordinator will use this code to ensure that no voter can request a second ballot and vote twice.

Similarly, if a voter requests a second ballot before mailing in the first one (ie - mail loss) the second ballot will be provided, but the authentication code for the first will be disabled, thereby causing the first ballot to be rejected if ultimately mailed in.

At the time of vote tabulation, and under the supervision of the scruitineers, the ballots will be removed from the envelope and counting will begin. At this point in time, there will be absolutely no way of identifying a specific ballot with a specific voter and so voter confidentiality will be maintained.

(c) Tabulation

During the voting period, ballots will be received by the election co-ordinator, authenticated as previously noted and stored unopened by district. Envelope color coding will be used to facilitate this segregation by district. Any rejected ballot envelopes (invalid envelopes or missing bar codes) will be stored separately for scruitineer review.

When tabulation begins, the accepted ballot envelopes will be opened under the supervision of the scruitineers and the ballots will be separated from the envelopes and examined for conformity with election guidelines A ballot may be rejected if:

• The ballot is not an official ballot issued by the election co-ordinator.
• The voter fails to conform to the voting instructions (for example – uses an “x” to denote one or more choices, instead of numbers).
• The voter’s preference is , in the opinion of the election co-ordinator, illegible. In this regard, the decision of the election co-ordinator is final.

As previously noted, if an envelope contains multiple ballots, all such ballots from that envelope will be rejected.

At this point in time, each accepted ballot will be stamped with a unique sequential number. This number is added to the ballot to facilitate the key verification process and to provide scrutineers with the capability of verifying the accuracy of the data entry on a ballot by ballot basis

Ballots will then be assembled into manageable batches of approximately 100 ballots, the batches will be numbered, and then forwarded to the first of two sequential, but identical data entry processes.

The first process will cause the batch number to be keyed, followed by the unique ballot number and voter preference for each ballot in the batch. The computer will then store this information electronically. This batch of ballots will then be passed on to a second data entry position, where the process will be repeated. As each ballot is re-keyed (called key verification), the computer will compare the information keyed on a ballot by ballot basis using the sequential number to match the ballots.

If the information is identical, the ballot is accepted and locked. If the information is not identical, the ballot is very carefully re-keyed on a keystroke by keystroke basis to ensure that it has been accurately entered on this third attempt. Scruitineers will be monitoring this process.

At the end of the data entry process for each district the software will perform the tabulation and the results determined. As required, the preferential re-tabulation will occur until each district has a candidate who has received 50% plus 1 vote.

(d) Manual Recount Provision

The current legislation provides for a manual recount of the ballots in a district if …”the number of votes received by the candidate who received the majority of votes, and the candidate who finished second, is equal to or less than one percent of the total votes for each of the candidates who are not eliminated …”
The following example is meant to clarify this provision:

Final Tabulation:

	Situation 1		Situation 2
Candidate 1	4,224	50.490%	4,225	50.502%
Candidate 2	4,142	49.510%	4,141	49.498%
Total Votes	8,366	100.00%	8,366	100.00%

In situation 1, candidate 2 has 49.510% of the votes and candidate 1 has 50.490% of the votes. Since the margin of victory is .98% which is less than or equal to 1.000%, candidate 2 is entitled to and may request a manual recount to be conducted.

In situation 2, candidate 2 has 49.498% of the votes and candidate 1 has 50.502%. Since the margin is greater than 1.000%, candidate 2 is not entitled to and will not receive a manual recount.

The calculation of the difference will be rounded to three decimal points as per the illustration.