5.0 Introduction
In March 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was ready to convene a new Parliament. However, instead of opening a session, Parliament was dissolved and a writ of election was issued. While the election call was not a complete surprise, it was unannounced. From that moment, thousands of moving parts were set in motion: voter lists needed to be verified, candidate nominations needed to be certified, and 200,000 election workers needed to be hired – all within a five week time frame! This monumental and often invisible work of election administration is vital for ensuring elections can happen.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Recall the administrative functions that must be completed by election officials
- Describe the different organizations of Electoral Management Bodies (EMB)
- Compare how election administration might differ across electoral systems
Things we need to know
In this chapter, you can expect to encounter the following terms/concepts.
- Electoral Management Body
- Poll Worker
- Scrutineer
- Voter Purges
