Revelstoke City Council appointed Dawn Low, CAO, as chief election officer at their Nov. 25 council meeting. Cindy Floyd is the deputy.
With the appointment complete the city has 80 days to host the election. The suggested date is Feb. 13 with advance voting days on Feb.3 and Feb. 10, 2021.
One councillor will be elected to replace Steven Cross who resigned on Jan. 21, 2020.
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Nominee packages will be available online on Dec. 14 and for pick up at City Hall, by appointment by calling 250-837-2911.
Low said forms must be submitted between Dec. 29 and Jan. 12. Hard copies of the forms must be submitted by Jan. 15 at the latest. Further instructions on how and where to submit are forthcoming.
The campaign period begins on Jan. 16 and ends on Feb. 13.
Instead of amending the election bylaw, the city has applied for a ministerial order to enact one time changes to the election process due to the pandemic.
Such changes include everyone being eligible to vote by mail, use of the Provincial Voter’s list to reduce touch points when voting in person and not holding special voting opportunities, such as going into senior’s centres, which would normally be required but isn’t feasible due to the pandemic.
The order will be ratified by city council when it is received.
READ MORE: City takes steps to host byelection by end of January
This byelection was delayed several times due to the pandemic as well as the snap provincial election which saw one of Revelstoke’s city councillors vying to be the MLA of Columbia-River Revelstoke. Had Nicole Cherlet won, she would have been stepping down as a councillor and there would have been a second vacancy.
There has been $20,000 set aside in the 2020 budget for the byelection and city staff are proposing another $20,000 be available in the 2021 budget.
In September Low said a one election can cost up to $50,000.
READ MORE: Revelstoke could further delay byelection to save funds
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