Municipal elections are scheduled for the fall, and Monday, at the regular meeting of Yorkton Council the City began the formal process of readying for the vote.
General Municipal Elections are legislated to occur every four years, with the next one to be held on Monday, November 9, 2020. The nomination period will be from Tuesday, September 21, 2020 鈥� 8:00 a.m. through to Wednesday, October 7, 2020 鈥� 4:00 p.m., explained Jessica Matsalla 鈥� Director of Legislation & Procedures (City Clerk) with the City.
Firstly, I鈥檇 like to address that there is no indication that the Province is moving the date of elections due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, offered Matsalla.
鈥淭here has been a tremendous investment of time and effort in considering the implications this will have on running an election, and it is part of every decision we make in this process,鈥� she said.
That said, Matsalla noted Municipal Election legislation has undergone some amendments and there are a few notable changes:
*Candidates must now complete a Public Disclosure of Private Interests form and include it with nomination papers. Public Disclosure of private interests provides for openness and transparency, and exposes the interests of a candidate so that conflict of interests can be identified if they exist.
*Methods for Posting Public notice are now not required to be published in a newspaper if the Council deems it not feasible. As long as timelines are being adhered to per the Act for posting notices, other mediums can be used. This is required to be put into place by bylaw.
*Mail-In ballot applicants may now have their signatures and identifications verified by persons other than election officials (such as a Notary Public, Postmaster, or any other person the Council chooses.) This is also required to be done by bylaw.
*It is now optional for a candidate鈥檚 occupation to be included on the nomination forms, and ballots. Form of ballots must be decided by Council, and this is done through bylaw for Yorkton.
*A Council may now provide for an array of Election matters, including all of the above through a General Election Bylaw.
In addition, 鈥渋n accordance with The Local Government Elections Act, 2015 (the Act) and The Cities Act, there are a number of decisions that City Council shall make relating to the holding of a municipal election. At a strategic planning session held earlier this year, preliminary Election related items were reviewed and discussed. Based on that discussion and the fact that there have been changes to legislation, Administration thought it would be sensible to create a General Election Bylaw and compound new and existing bylaws and processes into one central document,鈥� detailed the report circulated to Council.
The bylaw will be presented to Council at a later date, noted Matsalla.
Plans are also under way for the vote itself.
In accordance with regulations, the returning officer shall authorize the establishment of one or more advance polls within the municipality for voters to cast their votes in advance of Election Day. An Advance Poll must be open at least three days but not more than 15 days before Election Day
It would be opportunistic to directly address at this point the issue of voting eligibility for commercial and business property owners who reside outside the city, said Matsalla.
*A person who resides within and owns property within the city is only permitted one vote, regardless of how many or what type of properties they might own.
*A person who resides outside the city, but owns business or residential property in the city, in their personal name is permitted to vote.
*A person who does not reside within the city, but owns property that is in a corporate name, is not permitted to vote per the Act.
Council will deal with specifics of the new bylaw when presented.
