General voting day for the City of Powell River byelection will be Saturday, April 6, with voters able to cast votes in four locations.
Three candidates are on the ballot for the sixth and final seat on City of Powell River Council: George Doubt, Allan Drummond and Alan Rebane.
The election was triggered after the October 2018 civic election, where Doubt was proclaimed the winner of the sixth seat on council by a two-vote margin over Drummond. A court action was launched by Drummond to contest the seat after he alleged voting irregularities. The Supreme Court overturned Doubt’s election and ordered a new election for the vacated seat.
To vote for a candidate to fill the sixth council seat on April 6, resident electors must be 18 years of age or older on election day. They must be Canadian citizens who have lived in BC for at least six months before they vote, and lived in the city for at least 30 days before the vote. Also, they must not be disqualified under any legislation from voting.
These questions will be part of a declaration voters will have to initial when they sign for their ballots. Chief election officer Chris Jackson said this will be one of the bigger changes from the last civic election.
“We want each individual elector to have a separate page unto themselves and we require they initial each part of the declaration and sign the complete package,” said Jackson.
At the end, election officials have to sign and confirm that the signature matches the signature provided on voter identification.
On general voting day, electors can cast ballots between 8 am and 8 pm at one of four locations: lower floor of city hall (the old library space), Brooks Secondary School, Cranberry Seniors Centre, and James Thomson Elementary School.
Electors are required to have two pieces of identification. Together, the two pieces of identification must show the voter’s signature and residential address.
There have been two advance polls for the byelection.
Jackson said the turnout was high for the first advance poll on Wednesday, March 27. It drew 348 votes cast.
“If turnout remains the same as [March 27], that could result in about a 30 per cent voter turnout,” he added, “which is very high for a byelection that does not include a referendum question.”
By comparison, for the general election in October 2018, 485 ballots were cast on the first advance voting day, with the final voter turnout for the entire election coming in at 45.4 per cent.
The second advanced poll on Wednesday, April 3, resulted in 339 votes being cast.
