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
Northwest Territories
Register of Electors and Voters Lists
Northwest Territories collects and stores your personal information in its register of electors, which may include your:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Email address
- Gender
- Date of birth
- The date you moved to your electoral district
[Elections and Plebiscites Act, s. 54(2)]
However, data regarding your gender or date of birth can only be used to verify your identification or update the register; it won’t end up in a voters list that would be shared with other parties [s. 54(5)]. Elections NWT can enter into an agreement with any person, government, or organization to obtain any information that could assist in maintaining or updating the register of electors [s. 55(2.1)]. A range of databases can be used to supplement the register [s. 55]. Information from the register can be disclosed to MLAs who can use it to identify or communicate with constituents [ss. 77(2)(a), 77(3)].
Voters lists are created from the data in the register of electors for each polling division or electoral district during an election [s. 54 (7)]. A copy of the list is provided to political candidates [s. 75(1)].
Controlling your Personal Information
You have the right to request access to all information pertaining to you in the register to ensure that it is accurate [s. 54.1(1)]. Personal information in the register and in a voters list is strictly limited to electoral or authorized purposes.
There is no clear way within the Elections and Plebiscites Act to remove your information from the register of electors, but the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer is empowered to establish and maintain the register and, when an elector does not qualify to vote, they can remove them from the register.
The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer can be reached at info@electionsnwt.ca, 1-844-767-9100, or at the following address:
- 3rd Floor, YK Centre East
- #7, 4915-48th Street
- Yellowknife NT X1A 3S4
Sources
- Elections and Plebiscites Act, SNWT 2006, c 15.
- Office of the Chief Electoral Officer | Elections NWT
- Voter Registration | Elections NWT
- NWT Voter Guide
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.
