Lyttonites will be going to the polls for a by-election on April 30, which has three candidates vying for two councillor seats on village council.
Melissa Michell, Ross Urquhart, and Ernie Wagner are all in the running for the two councillor positions which are currently vacant. Nonie McCann also filed papers by the March 25 deadline, but subsequently withdrew her nomination.
It is the third by-election Lytton residents have seen since the last municipal election in October 2018. There was a by-election for one council seat in the village on March 2, 2019, after a councillor who was elected in October 2018 resigned before the new council’s first meeting.
A second by-election was scheduled for April 2020 after another council member resigned; that by-election was one of five province-wide cancelled due to the pandemic. It took place in December 2020, by which time two council seats were vacant.
A third by-election, to fill another vacant council seat, was scheduled for August 2021, but was cancelled due to the fire on June 30, leaving council with four members. That number dropped to three following another councillor resignation in December 2021.
The Community Charter allows municipalities to forego a by-election if vacancies take place on or after Jan. 1 of an election year. Although both current vacancies took place before Jan. 1, 2022, the Province had told the village — 90 per cent of which was destroyed by fire on June 30 last year — that it was not necessary to hold a by-election due to extenuating circumstances. However, the village chose to move ahead with a by-election, in order to have a full complement on council.
Following the by-election on April 30, the two successful candidates will be councillors until the next municipal election, which takes place on Oct. 15, 2022.
Residents of Lytton can request mail ballots from now through April 28. There will be one advance voting day: Wednesday, April 20, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Kumsheen ShchEma-meet School. General voting day, which will also be at Kumsheen School, will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.
All eligible Resident Electors and Non-Resident Property Electors can vote by mail, and residents can confirm whether or not they are on the Lytton Voters List by visiting the Elections BC website at www.elections.bc.ca or emailing corporate@lytton.ca.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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