The 2000 Canadian Election and Poll Reporting under the New Elections Act

Just before the 2000 Canadian electoral campaign, a new law was passed regulating the publication of polls in the media during electoral campaigns. The law required newspapers to publish basic information about the way the polls they presented were conducted, and the wording of questions and the means by which a methodological report could be obtained. In addition, the law specified which information the methodological report must contain. This article examines the extent to which the law was complied with. The research shows that the first two points were not problematic, though sometimes the information was not easily available. However, methodological reports did not generally provide all the requested information. In particular, crucial information such as response rates, refusal rates and the sampling method used were rarely provided. It would also appear that compliance with the law was not verified. Elections Canada relied on the public to issue complaints, and the media relied on pollsters to provide the information. The study concludes first, that ambiguities in the Act concerning exactly what information is required should be clarified; second, that methodological information should be placed together in a separate and identified subsection, as was the case with most media reports; and third, that Elections Canada should provide a model of the detailed report (326-3) so that the media and pollsters all present the information in a standard, easy-to-compare fashion.