Robert Patterson

For over twenty years, Robert Patterson was personally involved with administering the democratic process in British Columbia, having held senior management positions with Elections British Columbia since 1978. Robert took early retirement from the position of Chief Electoral Officer of the Province of British Columbia in June 2002 and now works as an independent consultant. As Chief Electoral Officer and Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, he directed a number of major electoral events including seven general elections, five enumerations, and two province-wide referendums, one entirely by mail. He was also responsible for administering election finance and recall and public initiative legislation. He also served as a member of the Province’s Electoral Boundaries Commission. Mr. Patterson was appointed Chief Electoral Officer in 1990. At that time, the office was a public service appointment. In 1995, after a national competition, his role was re-confirmed, this time as an Officer of the Legislature. Since 1992, on behalf of the United Nations, Foreign Affairs Canada, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Carter Center, the OAS and the OSCE, Mr. Patterson has served as a member of several international electoral assessment and observation missions which have taken him to such diverse countries such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Yemen, The Gambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia. He has also been an advisor to electoral commissions in Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Zambia and the Palestinian Territory. In Canada, he was a member of a national committee to develop strategies for educating students and other first-time voters on the electoral process. He was on the Steering Committee of the International Council on Governmental Ethics Laws. Up to retirement he was co-chair, with the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, of the Advisory Committee on the National Register of Electors. Born in Dawson City, Yukon, Mr. Patterson's early schooling was in Vancouver. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in International Economics in 1972, and received his Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Victoria in 1983.

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