Hear an interview with Elections NB spokesperson Paul Harpelle, on Tantramar Report:
Voter information cards are headed for mailboxes this week detailing options for advanced polls and election day voting in this year’s municipal, health authority, and district education elections.
People can vote anytime in person at a returning office (the closest ones are in Riverview, Moncton, and Dieppe), vote by mail by requesting a ballot from Elections NB (either a PDF to print off or through an online portal), or go to polls in Sackville at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre on May 1, May 3 or May 10.
“We are sort of promoting the ‘vote safely, vote early’ message for this election, much like we did in the last provincial election,” says Elections NB spokesperson Paul Harpelle. “We are encouraging electors that are ready, to consider going to the advanced voting location for Saturday, May 1 or Monday May 3. They also have the option of going to any returning office in the province,” says Harpelle.
The option for voters to go to any returning office in the province to cast their ballot is one of the reasons that election results will be delayed until after May 10.
The Elections Act allows citizens to vote from any returning office in the province, therefore Elections NB will not count votes until all districts have completed the voting process. So even though Sackville residents must cast their votes by or on May 10th, they will have to wait to hear the results of the election until all polls in the province are closed. On April 27, the province announced that day will be May 25.
Elections NB does not to have other options, according to provincial legislation. Paul Harpelle says the agency doesn’t have the legislative authority to limit people in the lockdown area to only vote by mail, or even require anyone voting for a district outside of the lockdown area to do so by mail. “We also do not have the infrastructure in place that would be required to process and handle a large volume of mail in ballots,” says Harpelle.
OUTGOING COUNCIL CONTINUES IN THE MEANTIME, WITH LIMITATIONS
The delay in count means a delay in the declaration of winners, and a delay in oaths of office for the freshly elected mayor and council.
So what happens in the meantime? As of May 10, the current council will remain in place, but will have restricted powers, as outlined in section 56 of the Local Governance Act.
After election day and until a newly elected council meets, the outgoing council may not:
- make, amend or repeal by-laws;
- make new contracts or agreements not already approved in a budget;
- borrow or make payments outside of the approved budget;
- purchase or dispose of capital assets, like land;
- appoint or fire employees that council is responsible for hiring, such as the CAO.
The new council can approve hires under the responsibility of senior staff management, such as summer positions. It can also award contracts that have been approved under the budget process, such as road paving. And just in case, the act also allows for councils to perform unbudgeted activities that are urgently required, such as fixing a broken water main.
JUST OVER TWO WEEK DELAY FOR COUNT
Counting of ballots will start as soon as the last poll is closed in the province, which is currently planned for May 25. Of course, if another area goes into lockdown and has election activities suspended, there could be another delay.
Once results are declared, there is an 11-day waiting period before newly elected mayors and councillors can be sworn in. If the last poll closes May 25, that means it’s possible that a new Sackville mayor and council could meet in June, though the timeline would be very tight, says Sackville CAO Jamie Burke.
“Right now anything can happen,” says Burke, “so we just need to wait and see how the next few weeks go and take it from there.”
MORE CHOICES THAN YOUR AVERAGE PROVINCIAL ELECTION
“Electors in Sackville will definitely see a difference in the ballot compared to the one they may have touched in the recent provincial election,” says Paul Harpelle. “First and foremost, it is going to be longer, because there are more candidates and more positions that are being contested.”
Because all Sackville town councillors are “at-large”, meaning they don’t represent separate districts but rather the whole town, each Sackville voter gets to choose up to eight candidates out of the 12 that are running. Harpelle says voters are not required to fill in all eight council seats on their ballot.
In addition to voting for a mayor and up to eight councillors, voters will be asked to cast a vote for representatives to District Education Council (DEC) and Regional Health Authority (RHA) boards. In Sacvkille voters must chose to vote in either the anglophone or francophone DEC, and in the Horizon or Vitalité RHA.
AND THE CANDIDATES ARE…
Check out CHMA’s local elections coverage for more about these candidates.
A total of twelve people are running for seats on Sackville town council:
Andrew Black (sitting councillor)
Allison Butcher (sitting councillor)
Keith Carter
Alice C. Cotton
Sabine Dietz
Matt Estabrooks
Bill Evans (sitting councillor)
Joshua Goguen
Kenneth Hicks
Matthew R. Noiles
Bruce Phinney (sitting councillor)
Michael Tower (sitting councillor)
The candidates for mayor include two incumbents on council:
Ron Aiken (sitting Deputy Mayor)
Shawn Mesheau (sitting councillor)
DISTRICT EDUCATION COUNCILS
Sackville is part of the Anglophone East school district, where there are two candidates, incumbent representative Michelle Folkins of Upper Dorchester, and Brian Neilson of Sackville.
Sackville is also part of the Francophone Sud school district, part of subdistrict 5 which covers Sackville and Memramcook. There are no candidates in this subdistrict.
HORIZON AND VITALITÉ
Sackville sits in subregion B1 for the Horizon health network, and subregion A1 for the Vitalité network. Both cover the same geographical area including communities from Rockport to Cape Tormentine to Shediac, and up the coast to Kouchibouguac National Park.
There are two candidates for the regional Horizon board seat, incumbent Pauline Gallant of St. Louis, New Brunswick, and new candidate Laura Reinsborough of Sackville.
There are two candidates for the Vitalité board seat: Louis M Simard of Cocagne and Claire Havet Ephestion of Dieppe.
