The people have spoken and Merritt’s newest city councillor is Neil Menard.

Menard received 225 of the 768 votes cast in the byelection.

Two other councillors finished with over 100 votes. Mike Jolly finished second with 158 votes and Linda Baird was third with 137.

Ginny Prowal had 95 votes, Julie Van Koll accumulated 78 and Noreen Cross had 75.

Menard will be sworn in on March 11, the first council meeting that month, and serve an eight-month term before the next municipal election in November.

Menard led the voting the whole way, although it was a slim margin at some points. After the advance polling days on Feb. 12 and 19, Menard had a six-vote lead on Jolly (54 votes to Jolly’s 48 at that time).

Menard’s lead went from six to 67 after general voting on Saturday as he posted 171 votes to Jolly’s 110.

Menard told the Herald he felt honoured to have been elected to council.

Now that the election is over, Menard said he wants to take some time to familiarize himself with all the rules and regulations of council and ensure he understands how it operates.

Merritt Mayor Susan Roline said there are a lot of projects Merritt has on the go right now, so Menard will have to get up to date quickly.

“He’ll have a lot of reading and stuff to do right away. He’ll be kept busy,” she said.

Menard said projects such as the new BC Hydro Substation and Merritt Green Energy Project as well as the new branding and asphalt plant debate are all topics he has just fringe knowledge of and will need to learn more about.

“And find out where all the councillors are on them,” he said. “You hear lots of stuff, but I want to hear it from them.”

Menard told the Herald that between now and November, he wants to talk with as many citizens as possible to see what issues they have and how he can help as a city councillor.

He also said he wants to make sure Merritt’s council is transparent.

“The important thing for me is to communicate back to our constituents,” he said.

Low voter turnout

There were about 5,500 people eligible to vote in the byelection, City of Merritt deputy clerk Carole Fraser told the Herald.

There were 125 fewer ballots cast in this byelection than there were in 2012.

About 14 per cent of eligible voters took part in this byelection, down by two per cent compared to 2012 when approximately 16 per cent of eligible voters took part.

Menard received about 30 per cent of the votes that were cast on Saturday.

In comparison to the number of registered voters, Menard was elected with about four per cent of the vote from all eligible voters.

Menard said it’s concerning to see such low voter turnout, but also said if people want to participate and be vocal about their community, they need to vote.

“If you don’t vote then what can you say? You can’t say anything and I was disappointed, but as far as I’m concerned those that came out are concerned about the city, they want to see something happen, so those are the ones that count,” Menard said, noting he aims to represent all of Merritt.

Coun. Kurt Christopherson said he looks forward to working with Menard.

“I think the citizens made the choice, and it’ll be exciting to have a full council for awhile,” Christopherson said.

In Merritt’s last byelection, Christopherson was elected with 399 votes, which was about 45 per cent of the votes cast.

In comparison to the number of eligible voters, Christopherson received about seven per cent of all possible votes.

Christopherson said it’s disappointing to see a low voter turnout, but it’s not unexpected.

The results of the 2014 byelection will be unofficial for the next two weeks.