The City of Quesnel is preparing for any contingency for the October municipal election.
In addition to setting advanced voting dates, council approved additional language allowing for more advance and special polling opportunities in their election by-law, which was passed at their Feb. 15 council meeting.
In addition to general voting on Oct. 15, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at city hall, Correlieu School and Dragon Lake School, there will be advanced voting in the lead-up to the election.
City hall will be open to potential voters from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Oct. 5 and Oct. 8. On Oct. 121, additional advance voting will be held at the College of New Caledonia/University of Northern B.C. campus from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 11.
Alongside the scheduled advance voting a general special opportunities voting has been set up for Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, with the locations to be determined.
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“(The language in the bylaw) is open enough, that if for some reason we’re into another COVID wave and there are some restrictions, we can offer a multitude of advance voting opportunities,” Mayor Bob Simpson said.
“It also gives us the opportunity to go into Dunrovin and so on, so that flexibility is there… This bylaw gives us full opportunity to give as much opportunity for voting as possible.”
Anyone hoping to vote by mail will be able to apply beginning Sept. 24.
“The rules around mail-ballot voting have been relaxed,” city manager Byron Johnson said.
“I think the rationale behind that is in particular with the COVID situation, it still is a fluid situation, we want to make sure that in the event of a COVID-type event happening during the election cycle, we would be able to depend much more heavily on the mail ballot process.”
Council also named Rhya Hartley as Quesnel’s Chief Election Officer as part of passing the election bylaw.
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