Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum — 540
Chief Electoral Officer to retain referendum documents 540 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall retain in his or her possession the referendum documents sent to him or her by a returning officer, with the return of the writ, for at least one year. Documents relating to Register of Electors (2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, for at least two years after receiving them, retain in his or her possession, on film or in electronic form, all documents that relate to the updating of the Register of Electors. Inspection of documents (3) No referendum documents, or documents that relate to the establishment or updating of the Register of Electors, that are retained in the custody of the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection (1) or (2) shall, during the period of their retention, be inspected or produced except under an order of a judge of a superior court, which, if made, the Chief Electoral Officer shall obey. Exception (4) Subsection (3) does not prohibit the Chief Electoral Officer, any authorized member of his or her staff or the Commissioner from inspecting the documents referred to in that subsection, and any of those documents may be produced by the Commissioner for the purpose of an inquiry made under section 510 or provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions who may produce them for the purpose of a prosecution — or possible prosecution — by the Director for an offence under this Act or the Referendum Act . Referendum documents or papers admissible in evidence when certified (5) When a judge of a superior court has ordered the production of referendum documents, the Chief Electoral Officer need not, unless the judge orders otherwise, appear personally to produce them but shall certify the documents and send them by courier to the clerk or registrar of the court, who shall, when the documents have served the purposes of the judge, return them by courier to the Chief Electoral Officer. Certified documents (6) Documents purporting to be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer are admissible in evidence without further proof. Filmed or electronic evidence (7) In any proceedings under this Act or the Referendum Act , a print that is made from a photographic film or from a document in electronic form made by the Chief Electoral Officer for the purpose of keeping a permanent record of a document, and certified by the Chief Electoral Officer or by a person acting in the name of or under the direction of the Chief Electoral Officer, is admissible in evidence for all purposes for which the recorded document would be admitted as evidence, without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the certificate. Order of Court (8) A judge may make an order under subsection (3) on being satisfied by evidence on oath that the inspection or production of a document referred to in that subsection is required for the purpose of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence in relation to a referendum. Conditions of inspections (9) An order for the inspection or production of referendum documents or documents that relate to the updating of the Register of Electors may be made subject to any conditions with respect to persons, time, place and mode of inspection or production that the judge considers appropriate.