The city could hold a byelection for one city councillor as early as Feb. 22, 2014.
At the regular city council meeting on Tuesday night, council discussed a memo from City of Merritt Deputy Clerk and Human Resources Manager Carole Fraser that outlined potential key dates for the byelection.
The suggested nomination period begins on Jan. 7, 2014 at 9 a.m. and ends on Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. Advance voting would take place on Feb. 12 and 19, with general voting on Feb. 22. General voting will likely take place in the community room at city hall as the Rotary Club of Merritt Sunrise mini-golf tournament is scheduled to take place at the Civic Centre that day.
The memo also recommends authorizing the automated voting machines that the city has used since 2008.
Fraser told the Herald while it’s possible those dates could change, it’s unlikely because of the meticulous timing a byelection and its procedures must abide by under the Local Government Act. Violating any of the restrictions around timing would mean the whole process would be thrown out, wasting time and tax dollars, Fraser said.
Council will either adopt or return the byelection procedure and automated voting machines bylaw at its Nov. 12 meeting.
If it’s adopted, the city will have until Dec. 10 to appoint a chief and deputy electoral officer as the byelection must fall on a Saturday within 80 days of those appointments.
“I’ve done the calendar work and backed everything up so all the dates coincide,” Fraser told council.
The money for the 2014 byelection will be rolled over from the city’s 2013 budget, which included $8,800 in the event it would need to hold a byelection.
“I was quite surprised that we budgeted money to hold a byelection. It seems odd to me that we would budget for a byelection,” Coun. Dave Baker said during the meeting.
Fraser told council the city budgeted for a byelection as a precaution after it had to come up with funds for a byelection in 2012 that hadn’t been set aside, prompted by then-councillor Norm Brigden’s resignation. The funds for that byelection ended up coming from the council’s contingency fund.
The funds for the 2014 byelection will be rolled over from the 2013 budget, Fraser said.
“The reason council budgeted for a byelection in 2013 is because in 2012 when we had the byelection, we had no funds budgeted. Because of the experience council had in 2012 without budgeting in the off-years of a general election, we put funds in the budget should we ever need a byelection,” Fraser said.
Murdoch’s resignation from city council takes effect on Oct. 31. He was absent from Tuesday’s meeting, which was his last regular meeting as a Merritt city councillor. No reason was given for his absence.
