GATINEAU – The CRTC today announced that the Voter Contact Registry is now accepting registrations, and will accept them until 48 hours after the federal election, to be held October 21st.
As part of the legal requirements for the Voter Contact Registry, anyone (including candidates and political parties, corporations, trade associations and other persons or groups) using the services of a calling service provider to call voters during the election must register with the CRTC within 48 hours of making the first call. The calling service provider is also obligated to register with the CRTC during all federal election campaigns, says the Commission press release.
In addition, anyone using their own internal services to make calls to voters using an automatic dialing and announcing device (“ADAD” and often referred to as robocalls) will have to register with the CRTC within 48 hours of making the first call. Third party corporations or groups using internal services, both live and or ADAD, also must register with the CRTC within 48 hours of making the first call.
The Voter Contact Registry was established in 2015 to help protect Canadians from rogue and misleading calls during federal elections and by-elections. The CRTC can impose administrative monetary penalties for each violation of up to $1,500 for individuals and up to $15,000 for corporations.
Registration notices filed with the CRTC will be published on the CRTC website promptly, but no later than 30 days after polling day. Canadians who think the Voter Contact Registry requirements are not being followed can submit a complaint to the CRTC, reads the Commission release.
(Google “election robo-calling”, for a much fuller background…)
