Town election bylaw

Times Contributor   

 

New changes in the municipal election act were accepted by council on June 5. 

“Administration is bringing forward the elections bylaw. It is pretty much general housekeeping for the upcoming election in October. There is not very many changes, just some changes to reflect new legislation that has been brought forward by the province,” said Jennifer Sawatsky, Town of Strathmore Administration clerk

Changes were:

• Voters must present photo ID to vote

• Those running for election must include $250 with their nomination form

• Nomination forms with inadequate number of signatures will be automatically declined

• Voting hours on election day move to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The running fee was previously $200 and it was suggested to be raised to $500.Council can set the fee at any amount. Those who are elected get their deposit returned. If the candidate gets 60 per cent of the vote, fees are returned. 

Councillor Earl Best debated that $500 was too steep a fee for potential candidates and it may restrict some people from running for council. Councillor Bob Sobol agreed and said other communities set fees between $100-$250. Mayor Grajczyk and Councillor Rocky Blokland felt $500 indicated the candidates were serious about running. 

“Without being rude to anybody, I keep thinking that if you don’t have $500…is that unfair of me to say…how good of businessman are you? Is that unfair? Think about it folks, this is serious, serious business. If you are that popular you (can) always borrow it from somebody, if you are that broke that day. Maybe that is rude of me to say, but that is what I think,” said Grajczyk.

Councillor Bob Sobol suggested no-one would intentionally throw $250 away. Councillor John Rempel agreed, unless it was a strategy to to split votes from another candidate. Councillor Dave Hamilton suggested the candidate orientation would weed out less than serious candidates. The amount was held at $250 and the bylaw was passed through third reading.

Council also approved the leaseof a vote tabulator and tech support cost at a price of $14,500 for the October 2013 election.

“Your worship I believe that at the last election results were tabulated and we had everything done by a quarter to nine. The previous years they were there until well after 2 a.m.,” said Councillor Best.

All councillors agreed that the lease was in everyones best interest.