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Elections Ontario (french: Élections Ontario) is an independent office of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
responsible for the administration of provincial
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
s and
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s. It is charged with the implementation and enforcement of the ''Election Act'' ( R.S.O., c. E.6), ''Election Finances Act'' (R.S.O. 1990, c. E.7), ''Representation Act''s (various), as well as specific portions of the ''Municipal Elections Act, 1996'' (S.O. 1996, c. 32, Sched.), ''Taxpayer Protection Act, 1999'' (S.O. 1999, c. 7, Sched. A), and ''Fluoridation Act'' (R.S.O. 1990, c. F.22). The agency collects information about political parties, candidates, constituency association, leadership contestants, and third parties involved in Ontario politics. Elections Ontario is led by the Chief Electoral Officer, a non-partisan Officer of the Legislative Assembly chosen by an all-party committee. Greg Essensa, appointed in 2008, is the current Chief Electoral Officer. His predecessor was John Hollins, who held the position from 2001 to 2008.


Mandate

Its responsibilities include: * Administering the election process in general elections and by-elections * Maintaining the Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario (PREO) * Testing new voting equipment, vote-counting equipment and alternative voting methods * Conducting public education on the electoral process * Overseeing the registration of political parties, constituency associations, candidates, leadership contestants and third party advertisers * Publishing on the Internet financial statements of the people and entities governed by the Act, including the real time disclosure of political contributions * Reviewing financial statements to ensure compliance * Distributing publicly funded subsidies * Investigating and reporting apparent contraventions * Recommending reforms to the ''Election Act'' and ''Election Finances Act''.


2012 Privacy Breach

In July 2012, Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa announced the April disappearance of two
USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since first ...
s holding data on 2.4 million voters in 25 Ontario ridings. The data included the names, gender, birth date and address of voters.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/class-action-launched-against-elections-ontario-over-missing-voter-information/article4431889/ Globe & Mail The two staff members who lost the drives no longer work at Elections Ontario. The
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...
and the
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC; french: Commissaire à l’information et à la protection de la vie privée de l'Ontario) was established as an officer of the Legislature by Ontario's ''Freedom of Information and Protect ...
started investigations into the privacy breach described as "the largest in Ontario history". Merchant Law Group filed a class action suit with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 20, 2012. Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian issued a report with recommendations on the incident on July 31, 2012.


Notable investigations


2015 Sudbury by-election bribery investigation

On February 19, 2015, Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa delivered a report to the Ontario legislature alleging that Premier
Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the m ...
's chief-of-staff Patricia Sorbara and Sudbury riding organizer Gerry Lougheed Jr. had offered a job to Andrew Olivier, who intended to run to be the Liberal candidate in the by-election.
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...
investigated the allegations and laid two charges against Lougheed. Police did not lay charges against Sorbara.


2018 Highway 407 data theft investigation

'' The Globe and Mail'' reported on May 20, 2018, that Elections Ontario had launched an investigation in response to a complaint that
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canad ...
candidates allegedly used data stolen from the 407 ETR toll highway to further party nomination campaigns in several ridings. The complaint, filed by the
Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
, focused on the nomination contests in the ridings of Brampton West, Brampton Centre, Brampton South, Burlington, Mississauga East—Cooksville,
Mississauga—Erin Mills Mississauga—Erin Mills is a federal electoral district in Ontario. It encompasses a portion of Ontario formerly included in the electoral district of Mississauga—Erindale. Mississauga—Erin Mills was created by the 2012 federal elector ...
,
Mississauga—Lakeshore Mississauga—Lakeshore (formerly Mississauga South) is a federal electoral district in Peel Region, Ontario, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. Geography The riding includes the Mississauga neigh ...
,
Mississauga—Streetsville Mississauga—Streetsville is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. This riding is centred on the villages of Streetsville and Meadowvale. Mississauga—Str ...
, Oakville,
Beaches—East York Beaches—East York (formerly Beaches—Woodbine) is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. This riding is situated east of Toronto's downtown. Acco ...
, Milton and Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas. The Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas nomination is also the subject of a separate criminal investigation by the
Hamilton Police Service The Hamilton Police Service (HPS) is the police service of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. With 829 officers and 414 civilians employed under the service. It serves roughly Hamilton’s 545,000 residents. The Hamilton Police Service has ...
.


See also

*
Politics of Ontario The Province of Ontario is governed by a unicameral legislature, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, which operates in the Westminster system of government. The political party that wins the largest number of seats in the legislature normally ...
*
List of political parties in Ontario The following is a list of political parties in Ontario, Canada. Parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Other parties registered with Elections Ontario Parties listed in the order they are alphabetized by Elections Ontario ...


References


External links

* {{Elecbodies Election agencies in Canada Offices of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Organizations based in Toronto Elections in Ontario