Elections Yukon is an independent, non-partisan office responsible for the administration of territorial general elections, school council elections and school board elections.
Elections Yukon is one of several independent offices of the Yukon Legislative Assembly.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is responsible for the planning, organization, preparation and impartial conduct of territorial electoral events, including territorial general elections, school council elections and school board elections.
Our office is located in the Jim Smith Building (formerly the Government of Yukon Main Administration Building), located at 2071 2nd Avenue in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Mandate
The complex planning, organizing, and implementing of elections in Yukon are overseen by what is often described as an election management body (EMB).
Internationally, an EMB is an independent, nonpartisan institution that is responsible for neutral election administration within a jurisdiction governed as a democracy.
In Canada each province, territory, and the national jurisdiction has an EMB. Elections Yukon fulfills this mandate for our territory serving as secretariat to the statutory Office of the Chief Electoral Officer.
We have a leadership team based in Whitehorse and a field leadership team dispersed across the territory's 19 Electoral Districts that each elect a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
Our primary responsibilities are to:
- maintain a state of territorial election readiness;
- conduct territory-wide school board elections;
- conduct local school council elections; and
- be a member of the Electoral District Boundaries Commission.
Organizational Structure
The CEO has a supporting team both at our headquarters in Whitehorse and in the 19 Electoral Districts across the territory.
In the weeks leading to a general election, Yukon’s electoral service grows to include more than 600 Yukoners to work the polls on election day.
They come from all walks of life, each serving voters in bringing to life an event that is fundamental to Yukon’s democratic traditions and upholding constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens to choose who governs them.
Elections Yukon Headquarters Team
Supported by the headquarters leadership team, the CEO ensures the fair, impartial and compliant conduct of electoral events in Yukon.
The headquters team is made up of:
- Chief Electoral Officer - H. Maxwell Harvey
- Assistant Chief Electoral Officer - Colleen Madore
- Administrative Services Coordinator - Carrie Jackson
- Chief Returning Officer - Dagmar Rudzewitsch
Territorial Returning Officers
While central electoral administration is the responsibility of the headquarters leadership team, local conduct of electoral events is the responsibility of a field leadership team.
There are 19 Returning Officers, each responsible for ensuring electoral events are administered and conducted at a consistent and high standard across the territory.
Returning Officers receive their direction from headquarters leadership.
An important part of maintaining election readiness is having Returning Officers in place for all 19 Electoral Districts. The CEO appoints the Returning Officers. They are all hired through an independent merit-based, competition. Notices of vacancies are posted to ElectionsYukon.ca/jobs.
As the local representatives, Returning Officers are entrusted with upholding the neutrality of the territory's electoral process within their Electoral District. They are directly responsible for the preperation, administration, conduct and reporting of proceedings related to territorial (MLA) elections in thier District. Their appointments are ongoing to ensure election readiness.
Click here for a list of Returning Officers and the electoral districts they serve.
School Returning Officers
Returning Officers are appointed to conduct school council and school board elections and by-elections, when the events occur.