INNISFAIL – The byelection for a new town councillor has been set for Monday, June 8.
That decision was made at town council’s regular meeting on March 23 following council’s approval of the 2020 Municipal By-Election Bylaw.
The byelection is being held to fill the councillor vacancy left by Doug Bos who resigned on March 9.
Todd Becker, the town’s chief administrative officer, noted council also approved a $20,000 budget for the upcoming byelection.
He said those funds would go towards the cost for the byelection, which will include support staff and electronic voting equipment.
Heather Whymark, the town’s director of corporate services, told council through her report that the town was one of several municipalities that used the VoteX electronic voting system for the 2017 municipal election and there was positive feedback, particularly for the timesavings it provided. Council was further told the same voting system would be used for the 2020 municipal byelection.
In the meantime, the town is also in continuing discussions about how it can best conduct the byelection to ensure public safety from the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 virus.
“(Discussions) are ongoing. We will comply entirely with what is expected of us at that particular time,” said Becker. “With social distancing we will have control with the voting stations to ensure that everything is cleaned down, likely prior to each vote.
“All those measures will be established from this point forward but we will certainly provide opportunity for the public to vote,” he added.
As for any public all-candidate forums, Becker said the town’s only role is to ensure they comply with provincial government regulations. He noted forums are established by any entity that wants to host an official public forum.
With council’s approval of the byelection bylaw, the town is also sending a letter to the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs that the byelection may not be able to be completed due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. Council was told in Whymark’s report that the province may extend the time to fill the council vacancy until the next general election in 2021 or set another date for the byelection.
In a news release, Whymark also announced that citizens intending to run in the byelection could access candidate nomination packages by contacting the town office or by downloading from www.innisfail.ca/election.
Whymark said nomination packages could be filed on weekdays between Monday, March 24 through to Friday, April 24 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The deadline to submit all documentation is 12 p.m. on April 27.
