Survey of Official Agents following the 44^th General Election – II. Conclusions

The survey conducted after the 44^th GE shows that six in ten official agents were acting in the capacity for the first time, somewhat lower than in the 43^rd GE, but still a majority. This may suggest that OAs do not return to this position for various reasons, which continues to be backed up by comments in the survey about the workload and the demands the role makes on volunteers. A couple of OAs commented that the task seems more suited to professional accountants, and the costs of compliance with auditing requirements seems high for campaigns with small budgets. There is a suggestion that some of the stringent requirements may prevent first-time candidates or small campaigns from taking part in the electoral process.

EC staff continues to get a notable amount of recognition for their courtesy and help to OAs, but there remain concerns about a lack of communication of new rules, high entry requirements for small campaigns, and frustration caused by repetition of tasks and difficulties with software and website navigation. EC is advised to "close the loop" by providing confirmation of receipt of documents submitted electronically and by informing candidates and OAs when the campaign file has finally been closed.

The following are suggestions for EC's consideration, stemming from survey responses and comments:

• Simplify navigation on the web site so that OA services and resources are not lost amid the wealth of information available;
• Prioritize communications about the training and services available to OAs;
• Make improvements to EFR and make it entirely online or available across multiple computer platforms;
• Have a simplified/fast track process for small campaigns/first-time candidates/under $10,000 or zero budget campaigns; amend the Canada Elections Act to make opening a campaign bank account optional for zero-budget campaigning; and
• Ensure OAs have positive experiences with EC staff and auditors by having more flexible timelines for responding to requests for information or clarification, maintaining a sense of proportion and not making OAs jump through hoops for very small discrepancies, and giving OAs (especially first time OAs) the benefit of the doubt when mistakes occur.

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