Running a municipal election doesn’t necessarily end with counting ballots.
City Hall is looking for members of an “Election Compliance Audit Committee”.
Clerk Steph Palmateer explains that if someone complains that a candidate or third party advertiser violated financial requirements of the Elections Act, the committee investigates.
“If it’s upheld, then the candidate could lose his seat,” he says, depending on the severity of the violation. “Of course, the candidate would then have the right to appeal the decision of the committee to the courts.”
A third party advertiser would be subject to penalties that include a fine of up to $50,000.
Committee members can come from almost any background.
“If they have some financial background, that would be great, but we’re not limited to any type of a background or skills set,” says Palmateer. “Basically, we’re just looking for reasonable people who can follow some instruction and the guidelines as set out in the act.”
An application is available and information are available through this link. Act soon, because a bylaw establishing the committee has to be passed at the September 27th council meeting.
The 2022 municipal election is on October 24th.