BANFF – The Town of Banff has appointed a returning officer for next year’s municipal election given a change in provincial legislation means nominations open on Jan. 1, 2021.
At a meeting on Monday (Dec. 14), council appointed municipal clerk Libbey McDougall as the returning officer and corporate services director Chris Hughes as her backup.
“This is new and we wouldn’t normally see this at this time, but starting for the 2021 municipal election, the nomination period is actually commencing on Jan. 1 and runs until nomination day (Sept. 20),” Mayor Karen Sorensen said.
The next municipal election is set for Oct. 18, 2021.
Having served two-terms on council and now in her third term as mayor, Sorensen has already announced she has no plans to run again. First-term councillor Peter Poole has also indicated he has no plans at this time to seek re-election.
Councillors Brian Standish, Ted Christensen and Chip Olver all say they plan to run again in 2021, while councillors Corrie DiManno and Grant Canning are not saying either way yet.
On Monday, council authorized McDougall to provide a minimum of one advance vote; designate locations for institutional voting; and provide special ballots – the official name for mail-in ballots.
The Town of Banff used special ballots in the 2017 election, and council agreed it would be a good idea to offer them again in 2021 given COVID-19 and the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic into the future.
McDougall said mail-in ballots provide a viable option for those voters who may be in quarantine or isolation, or not comfortable voting in person due to social distancing concerns.
“The use of special ballots will also extend the vote to those who are away from the community,” she said.
Coun. Peter Poole said he is entirely in favour of special ballots, but wanted to see if council could have input on options for special ballots, noting some are more secure than others.
“My only concern is because we’ve heard of concerns over the recent U.S. election that there have been efforts with some electronic voting systems for actors either domestic or international to tamper with voting systems,” he said.
“I like the idea of a tamper-proof system where possible. I think most people would agree with that, but I’d like to see that here because it’s of a concern in the background these months.”
McDougall said she plans to return to council with a more detailed report early in 2021, and Coun. Poole’s queries or concerns on special ballots could form part of that report.
“That report will speak to such things as budget, and perhaps potential polling locations, or maybe even some suggestions on how we may respond to the ongoing COVID situation,” she said.
In 2017, the Town of Banff held two advance votes and McDougall said the municipality plans to hold at least as many again, perhaps more if social distancing rules are still in effect.
In addition, two deputies will be assigned to conduct a vote at the residence of any elector, due to physical incapacity that leaves them housebound and unable to attend a voting station or an advance voting station.
This service would be advertised, and any voter requiring this service would need to register with the returning officer.
“In the past, only a few voters have taken advantage of this provision; however, the benefit of incapacitated at home voting is providing increased accessibility to the vote and seems to be appreciated,” McDougall said.
“Administration will work with the director of emergency management and the Emergency Coordination Centre so as to determine how best to provide this given the concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
A location, or potentially more, will be designated as institutional voting stations as a service to seniors in long term-care or other facilities, or people in hospital.
Traditionally a room-to-room, bed-to-bed vote is conducted at the Mineral Springs Hospital for those who want to vote, but Coun. Chip Olver was interested in seeing additional locations for institutional voting.
“The intention is trying to make sure we can do this in a manner where we can give as many people as possible the option to vote in a safe as a manner as we can, given the trying times we are in right now,” McDougall said.
Coun. Poole questioned whether or not the Town of Banff could opt out of a new provincial government requirement that allows for election candidates’ disclosure of funding sources be handed in after the election, as opposed to beforehand.
“Could Banff opt out because of this interesting way that some Alberta laws have to be delayed before being implemented in Banff under the Incorporation Agreement,” he said, referring to the document that established Banff as an Alberta municipality in a national park.
“Could Banff retain the older, more transparent disclosure approach than the more recent one?”
Town Manager Kelly Gibson said it is unlikely an option for Banff to bypass Alberta law just because Banff might not agree with the provincial legislation, but noted he would check with the municipality’s legal counsel.
“I would say that we can’t just opt in and out of pieces of legislation. The general rule of thumb that Parks Canada-Justice uses when they look at these pieces of legislation is are they for the rule of all,” he said.
“In most cases, with the exception of a few planning areas where Parks wants to retain certain controls, they don’t allow us to just opt out.”
The 2021 operating budget includes funds necessary to meet the needs of a municipal election. The budget for the 2017 election was approximately $10,902.
“The Town of Banff did conduct a joint election with the local school division in 2017 and as such, the election costs were divided equally amongst the two entities,” McDougall said.
“Administration will return in early 2021 with a report outlining other municipal election directives that will include additional financial information, such as potential COVID-19 mitigation measures.”
