Gerald Davis, a town of Osoyoos employee and presiding election official, takes a ballot from a voter and runs it through a vote tabulation machine at the advance poll Nov. 5. (Richard McGuire photo)
While voter turnout during municipal elections has been traditionally very low in Osoyoos – and most other municipalities across the province – that is expected to change on Saturday when the 2014 municipal election takes place.
With a new mayor to be elected and only one returning incumbent councillor, the general election promises to be close and exciting among the three mayoral candidates and seven council candidates hoping to win one of four seats available.
When you add the fact that a controversial borrowing bylaw is also being decided through voter assent (referendum), there promises to be much higher voter turnout than usual.
Janette Van Vianen, the chief electoral officer for the Town of Osoyoos, said more than one dozen people have been hired to ensure the municipal election and fire hall referendum votes go as smoothly as possible.
All eligible voters will be handed a single ballot and they will each have the opportunity to vote for their preferred mayoral candidate as well as their top four preferred town councillor candidates, said Van Vianen.
On a separate section of the ballot, they will then vote “Yes” or “No” on whether to approve a borrowing bylaw that would allow the town to borrow $4 million to build the proposed new fire hall.
The actual amount of the borrowing bylaw is $5.962 million, however, the town has already entered into an agreement where the Osoyoos Indian Band and Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection District will provide $1.9 million towards the cost of the new hall.
If local voters turn down the fire hall borrowing bylaw, it’s expected the new council will have to go back to the drawing board and get new cost estimates as a new fire hall referendum can’t be presented to voters for at least six months.
If the borrowing bylaw is approved, it’s expected the new mayor and council will begin the tendering process to build a new fire hall within weeks of the election and construction is likely to begin in early spring.
The three mayoral candidates include incumbent councillor Sue McKortoff, former town councillor Ray Vandenberg and self-admitted “fringe candidate” Doug Pederson.
The seven candidates looking to win the four seats on town council include incumbent C. J. Rhodes and newcomers Jean Clarke, Mike Campol, Jim King, former mayor and councillor John Slater, Carol Youngberg and Sy Murseli, who has run for a seat on town council on six separate occasions.
All eligible voters must bring two pieces of identification, one proving current residency and one featuring their personal signature.
Voting will begin at 8 a.m. sharp and continue until 8 p.m. at the Sonora Community Centre.
Advance voting already took place at Town of Osoyoos council chambers on November 5.
The province has passed new legislation that made several changes to local municipal government elections, said Van Vianen.
The two most significant changes are that the terms for all positions will be four years and campaign financing reporting will now be done through Elections BC.
Although voting proceedings for both the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (Area A) director and School District No. 53 School Trustees (for Osoyoos) are held in conjunction with the town voting, at the same times and same places, the RDOS and the School District run their own elections.
Mark Pendergraft, the current chair of the RDOS board of directors, has been acclaimed at the director for Area A.
June Harrington and current SD 53 board chair Marieze Tarr have been acclaimed as the two representatives for Osoyoos on the new board that will be in place following Saturday’s election.
The town’s election is conducted under the legislation provided through the Province of British Columbia. For more information on the legislation, proceedings or voter’s guide in various languages, please go to: http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/2014elections/index.htm.
The Town of Osoyoos uses electronic voting machines. Voting for candidates is still done by hand, on specially prepared ballots, but the vote counting is done electronically.
Manual counts of each and every vote are no longer required, which means the vote tally can be calculated within minutes of the final voter casting his or her ballot, said Van Vianen.
Unofficial election results are usually available within an hour of the close of polls. The paper ballots are still retained in the event that a recount, whether electronic or manual, is required.
It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for a municipal election and Van Vianen is confident Saturday’s election will run smoothly.
“It takes an incredible amount of work, but we’re ready to go,” she said.
After a long campaign, all of the candidates are anxious and looking forward to Saturday’s vote, she said.
“They’ve done all the work and they’re excited to see the results,” she said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
