The City of Cold Lake is gearing up for another election.
In October, Cold Lake residents will be submitting their vote for city council. For now, the city is making some changes to their current municipal election procedures to better suit the upcoming election and changes to the Municipal Governance Act (MGA)
“There have been some changes to the Municipal Governance Act. One of the biggest changes to this election actually took place in 2014,” explained Linda Mortenson, returning officer for the City of Cold Lake.
The change requires candidates who plan on collecting campaign contributions, or who are self-funding their campaign to the extent of $10,000 to submit a notice of intent to the municipality, prior to nomination day.
To run in the election, candidates must be 18-years of age or older, be a Canadian citizen, and have resided in the city for at least six consecutive months prior to nomination day on Sept. 18, 2017.
On nomination day, candidates must submit their form to Mortenson between 10 a.m. and noon. If the candidate is unable to drop-off the form personally, they may have someone do it on their behalf. Anyone who wishes to withdraw their name from the running after submitting their candidacy must notify the city within 24-hours of submitting their form.
Candidates are also required to hold a separate bank account for campaign surpluses, Mortenson said, adding this change also comes through the MGA.
On a local scale, the city will be making adjustments to the Municipal Election Procedures bylaw in order to meet some changes that are coming down the pipe.
“There will be some amendments to our bylaw… One of the biggest is that we can no longer use the voting machines we have used in the past elections,” said Mortenson, adding the city can't locate the company from previous elections in order to hire them for the upcoming election.
Instead, they will look into the use of new, updated machines that will count ballots as they are submitted.
“It'll be a ballot system that you will mark, and it will be counted electronically. My understanding is, you will feed your ballot into the computer system and it will count it,” Mortenson added. ”We will have to amend our bylaw based on the voting equipment and what the ballots look like, because they will not be the same as what is in our current bylaw.”
Where those polling stations will be located come election day is still up for discussion.
The Energy Centre will be the location for the main polling stations the day of, while the Seniors Centre, Golf and Winter Club and city hall will be holding stations for advanced polling.
“We may have an advanced poll as well at the Cold Lake Seniors Lodge and Points West Living. That's what we did last year… and it's probably something we are going to look at,” Mortenson explained.
Advanced polls are held once two weeks before the election and a second time one week before.
Coun. Bob Buckle was concerned that during the last election residents travelling out of the province missed their voting opportunity.
Mortenson said there are special ballots available for those travelling out of the area, such as military personnel or snowbirds.
In these cases, the city sends out a kit that includes all of the information on how to vote through the mail.
Through the use of their website, the city is promoting the upcoming election, and will provide up to date information about the candidates in the running, and how to become a candidate.
“This website will grow as we move forward with the election,” explained Mortenson.
There are two areas of the website for the election, one is for voters with information regarding the requirements for voting, ways to vote and when and where voting will take place.
The second link is for candidates, where residents can learn about qualifications, the bylaw, information from Alberta Municipal Affairs about running in a municipal election, and the MGA.
On the website, a list of candidates who submit a notice of intent will be available, however, it is not required for anyone running to submit their name publicly before nomination day.
There are a couple of benefits to having a candidate's name public, Mortenson said, including potential campaign contributions and informing the public of your intent to run for council.
All of this information will be provided to candidates at city hall, in the form of a candidate information package.
“That will be available at the front counter for anyone who would like to know about the election and the process,” noted Mortenson.
For more information on becoming a candidate or voting, visit coldlake.ca.
