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
Prince Edward Island
The Register of Electors and Voters List
When you register to vote in a provincial election, Elections PEI collects your personal information and records it in a permanent list called the register of electors. It contains the following items of your personal information:
- Name
- Residential and mailing address
- Contact information
- Date of birth
- A unique identifier
- Any other information Elections PEI requires to be in an application for registration
[s. 24.1(5)]
Along with information you submit to the register when you register to vote, Elections PEI can use any other source of information available to them to update and maintain the register [s. 24.1 (2)(c)].
During an election, using the information from the register of electors, Elections PEI will create lists of voters containing the same personal information as appears in the register [ss. 24.2(a), 24.3(2)]. The final edit of the voters list, called the official voters list, is distributed to registered candidates (for their electoral district) and registered political parties [s. 62(2)].
Controlling your Information
You have the right to access your personal information held within the register of electors for the purpose of making sure that it is correct [s. 24.1(9)].
Sources
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.
