BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
Provincial and Territorial Elections
General Information
Most of the provinces and territories have very similar legal frameworks surrounding elections. While all provinces and territories gather your personal information in the process of carrying out their elections, the information they collect and the way they handle it can vary from province to province. So, too, can the process of accessing or removing your personal information from their databases.
To understand what pieces of your personal information your provincial or territorial government has, how it’s used, and how you can control it, it’s important to understand the typical structure governments use to collect your information.
Specific details for each Canadian Province and Territory : Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Yukon
Manitoba
The Voters List
Elections Manitoba collects and records your personal information in a register of voters. They may include the following in the register:
- Name
- Address (residential and mailing)
- Phone number (if provided)
- Date of birth
- Gender
- A unique identifier (randomly generated figure attached to your name)
- Any other information deemed important for the list by Elections Manitoba
While the information in the register largely comes from when voters register to vote, there is a wide variety of sources that Elections Manitoba is authorized to gather personal information from, including:
- Information given to Elections Manitoba by voters
- Any source Elections Manitoba considers reliable
- Information from Elections Canada
- Your personal information held by another public body
From this register, a voters list is formed, which is sent out to election officials, MLAs, registered political parties, and political candidates. The voters list includes your:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Unique identifier
- Any other information the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary (except for date of birth, gender, or any other identification number)
[Elections Act, ss. 63.8, 63.1(4)]
Authorized Uses, Access, and Removal
The register of voters and the voters list are two different things; the register has more of your information but is used strictly for electoral purposes and mainly internally. The list of voters is used for electoral purposes but is also given out to other parties who could use it to effectively participate in the election, like MLAs, political parties, and political candidates.
Your information on the register isn’t directly given out. If your information is in the register but not the voters list, a registration agent may make a personal visit to your home to request to add you to a revised voters list [s. 79(1)].
Once your name is on the voters list, there are different authorized uses of your personal information depending on who is accessing it.
- MLAs: To carry out their duties and functions as an MLA
- Political Parties and Candidates: To communicate with you (the voter)
- Election Officials: To carry out their duties
People and political parties are legally obligated to take all reasonable measures to protect your personal information from loss or unauthorized use [s. 63.9 (1)] .
You can request to have your personal information removed from the register. You can still vote if you do this. Without your information in the register, Elections Manitoba cannot put your information on a voters list, so political parties and candidates will be unable to access your information, and they will be unable to contact you [s. 63.5 (1)(c)].
To exercise this right, you can fill out this form and email it to elections@elections.mb.ca or mail it to the following address:
- 120 – 200 Vaughan Street
- Winnipeg, MB R3C 1T5
- Fax: 204-945-6011
You must include identification with your request for removal. It can either be one piece of government-issued photo ID, or two other pieces of ID.
While there is no clear way to directly remove your information from voters lists, you can request to have your name omitted or obscured from voters lists and replaced with a personal security number. If you do so, you can only vote by homebound ballot. To discuss this possibility, you must contact Elections Manitoba.
Contact info:
- 120 – 200 Vaughan Street
- Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 1T5
- Phone: 204-945-3225
- Toll-free: 1-866-628-6837
- Registration help: 204-815-2996
- Registration help toll-free: 1-866-339-4870
- Fax: 204-945-6011
- Email: election@elections.mb.ca
Sources
- Elections Act, CCSM, c E30.
- Removing your name from the Manitoba Voter Register
- Personal Security
- Contact Us
These pages were last updated and reviewed in the summer of 2024.
The information on these pages only contains general information and guidance; none of the information constitutes legal advice. If you have a specific issue that you believe is a legal problem, the best practice is to consult a lawyer.
The information is non-partisan, dynamic and ever changing. It is the result of FIPA’s research and public education programs.
If you note something that needs to be added, corrected, or removed, please contact us by email: fipa AT fipa.bc.ca.
