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HomeMy Public PortalAboutGeneral Local Government Election Consolidated Bylaw 1376 General Local Government Election Bylaw 1376 CONSOLIDATED FOR PUBLIC CONVENIENCE (Includes updates to February 2022) The text of General Local Government Election Bylaw 1376 has been amended by the following: Bylaw 1376.01 Adopted March 22, 2021 Advance Voting Opportunities, Special Voting Opportunities, Mail in Ballots Bylaw 1376.02 Adopted February 14, 2022 Mail in Ballots BYLAW 1376 Page 2 TOWN OF OLIVER BYLAW 1376 A bylaw to provide for the determination of various procedures for the conduct of local elections and assent voting, and to authorize the use of an automated vote counting system and procedure. WHEREAS under the Local Government Act Council may, by bylaw, determine various procedures and requirements to be applied to the conduct of elections and assent voting; AND WHEREAS Council may, by bylaw provide for use of automated voting machines, voting recorders or other devices for voting in an election; AND WHEREAS Council wishes to establish voting procedures and requirements under that authority; NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the Town of Oliver, in open meeting assembled, enacts as follows: 1. CITATION This Bylaw may be cited for all purposes General Local Government Election Bylaw 1376. 2. DEFINITIONS In this Bylaw the following terms have the following meanings: Acceptable mark means a completed oval, or arrow, which the vote counting unit is able to identify, which has been made by an elector in the space provided on the ballot opposite the name of any candidate or opposite either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on any other voting question. Automated vote counting system means a system that counts and records votes and processes and stores election or any voting results which comprises: (a) a number of ballot scan vote counting units, each of which rests on a two- compartment ballot box, one compartment of which is for: (i) voted ballots; and (ii) returned ballots which have been reinserted using the ballot override procedure; and the other compartment is for the temporary storage of voted ballots during such time as the vote counting unit is not functioning; and Bylaw 1376 Page 3 (b) a number of storage ballot compartments into which voted ballots are deposited where a vote counting unit is not functioning or being used which will therefore be counted after the close of voting on general voting day. Ballot means a single ballot card designed for use in an automated vote counting system, which shows: (a) the names of all of the candidates for each of the offices to be filled; and (b) all of the choices on all of the bylaws or other matters on which the opinion or assent of the electors is sought. Ballot return override procedure means the use, by an election official, of a device on a vote counting unit, which causes the unit to accept a returned ballot. Election headquarters means the Town of Oliver Municipal Hall located at 6150 Main Street, Oliver, BC V0H 1T0 or other location of headquarters. Memory pack means a computer software cartridge which is inserted into the vote counting unit and into which is pre-programmed the names of all the candidates for each of the offices to be filled, and the alternatives of “yes” or “no” for each question on the ballot, and which records and retains information on the number of acceptable marks made for each. Portable ballot box means a ballot box, for use in the election, where a vote counting unit is not being used at the time of voting. Results tape means the printed record generated from a vote counting unit at the close of voting on general voting day, which shows the number of votes for each candidate for each of the offices to be filled, and the number of votes for and against each bylaw or other matters on which the opinion or assent of the electors is sought. Returned ballot means a voted ballot which was inserted into the vote counting unit, but which was not accepted and which was returned to the elector with an explanation of the ballot marking error which caused the ballot not to be accepted. Secrecy sleeve means an open-ended folder or envelope used to cover ballots to conceal the choices made by each elector. Storage ballot compartment means a ballot box under each vote counting unit into which voted ballots are temporarily deposited in the event that the unit ceases to function. BYLAW 1376 Page 4 Systems 1 through 7 shall mean the area formerly serviced by the Southern Okanagan Lands Irrigation District as dissolved by Order-In-Council No. 1870 dated December 15, 1989 and for which two Water Councillors are to be elected. Water Councillor shall mean a representative (as provided for in Order-In-Council No. 1870) to be elected to Council to serve the waterworks systems known as Systems 1 through 7 but excluding those portions thereof lying within the boundaries of Oliver, and having all rights and responsibilities of a Councillor except that those rights and responsibilities are limited to water matters that are within the jurisdiction of Oliver. Vote counting unit means the device into which voted ballots are inserted and which scans each ballot and records the number of votes for each candidate and for and against each question on which the opinion or assent of the electors is sought. 3. MINIMUM NUMBER OF NOMINATORS (a) As authorized under section 86 of the Local Government Act, the minimum number of qualified nominators required to make a nomination for office as a member of council shall be two (2). 4. ACCESS TO NOMINATION AND ENDORSEMENT DOCUMENTS (a) As authorized under section 89(7) of the Local Government Act, public access to nomination documents will be provided on the Internet from the time of delivery to the Chief Election Officer until 30 days after the declaration of the election results (34 days after general voting day). (b) As authorized under section 89 and 93 of the Local Government Act, public access to elector organization endorsement documents will be provided A person who inspects or otherwise access nomination documents under this section must not use the information included in them except for the purposes of this Act or purposes of the Local Government Act. 5. ORDER OF NAMES ON BALLOT (a) The order of names of candidates on the ballot will be determined by lot in accordance with section 117 of the Local Government Act. 6. ELECTOR REGISTRATION (a) As authorized under section 69 of the Local Government Act, for all elections and assent voting, a person may register as an elector only at the time of voting. Bylaw 1376 Page 5 7. USE OF VOTING MACHINES Council hereby provides for the use of an automated vote counting system for the conduct of elections and voting on bylaws or other matters on which the opinion or assent of the electors is sought in the Town of Oliver and Systems 1 through 7. 8. AUTOMATED VOTING PROCEDURES (a) The presiding election official for each voting place shall offer, and if requested, ensure that a demonstration of how to vote using a vote counting unit is provided to an elector, as soon as such elector enters the voting place and before a ballot is issued. (b) Upon completion of the voting demonstration, if any, the elector shall proceed as instructed, to the election official responsible for issuing ballots, who, upon fulfilment of the requirements of the Local Government Act, shall then provide a ballot to the elector, a secrecy sleeve if requested by the elector, the ballot marking instrument, and any further instructions the elector requests. (c) Upon receiving a ballot the elector shall immediately proceed to a voting compartment to vote. (d) The elector may vote only by making an acceptable mark on the ballot: i. beside the name of each candidate of choice, up to the maximum number of candidates to be elected for each of the offices to be filled; and ii. beside either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the case of each bylaw or other matter on which the assent or opinion of the electors is sought. (e) Once the elector has finished marking the ballot, the elector must either place the ballot into the secrecy sleeve, if one has been requested, or turn the ballot upside down and proceed to the vote counting unit, and under the supervision of the election official in attendance, insert the ballot directly from the secrecy sleeve, if applicable, into the vote counting unit without the acceptable marks on the ballot being exposed. (f) If, before inserting the ballot into the vote counting unit, an elector determines that a mistake has been made when marking the ballot, or if the ballot is returned by the vote counting unit, the elector may return to the voting compartment to correct the ballot or request a replacement ballot by informing the election official in attendance. (g) Upon being informed of the replacement ballot request, the presiding election official shall issue a replacement ballot to the elector and mark the returned ballot “spoiled” and shall retain all such spoiled ballots separately from all other ballots, and they shall not be counted. BYLAW 1376 Page 6 (h) If the elector declines the opportunity to obtain a replacement ballot and has not damaged the ballot to the extent that it cannot be reinserted into the vote counting unit, the election official shall, using the ballot return override procedure, reinsert the returned ballot into the vote counting unit to count any acceptable marks which have been made correctly. (i) Any ballot counted by the vote counting unit is valid and any acceptable marks contained on such ballots will be counted, subject to any determination made under a judicial recount. (j) Once the ballot has been inserted into the vote counting unit and the unit indicates that the ballot has been accepted, the elector must immediately leave the voting place. (k) During any period that a vote counting unit is not functioning, the election official supervising the unit shall insert all ballots delivered by the electors during this time, into the storage ballot compartment, on the understanding that if the vote counting unit: i. becomes operational, or ii. is replaced with another vote counting unit, the ballots in the storage ballot compartment shall, as soon as reasonably possible, be removed by an election official and, under the supervision of the presiding election official, shall be inserted into the vote counting unit to be counted. (l) Any ballots which were temporarily stored in the storage ballot compartment during a period when the vote counting unit was not functioning, which are returned by the vote counting unit when being counted shall, through the use of the ballot return override procedure and under the supervision of the presiding election official, be reinserted into the vote counting unit to ensure that any acceptable marks are counted. (m) A sample ballot that may be used in an automated vote counting system is attached as Schedule “A” to this Bylaw. Bylaw 1376 Page 7 9. ADVANCE VOTING OPPORTUNITIES Required Advance Voting (a) As required under section 107 of the Local Government Act, the required advance voting opportunity will be held on the 10th day before general voting day. 10. ADDITIONAL ADVANCED VOTING OPPORTUNITIES (a) As authorized under Section 108 of the Local Government Act, Council authorizes the chief election officer to establish dates for additional voting opportunities to be held in advance of general voting day and to designate the voting places and set the hours for these voting opportunities. 11. SPECIAL VOTING OPPORTUNITIES (a) As authorized under section 109 of the Local Government Act, special voting opportunities will be provided, and the chief election officer is hereby authorized to establish the dates, locations, and voting hours within the limits set out in section 99 of the Local Government Act, for the special voting opportunities. i. South Okanagan General Hospital 911 McKinney Road, Oliver, BC V0H 1T0 ii. Sunnybank Retirement Home 6553 Park Drive, Oliver, BC V0H 1T0 (b) Persons who may vote at a special voting opportunity shall be either qualified electors who are residents or patients at the facility being used as a special voting opportunity or qualified electors who are employed at the facility being used as a special voting opportunity. (c) Council authorizes the chief election officer to limit the number of candidate representatives who may be present at the special voting opportunity. 12. SPECIAL VOTING OPPORTUNITY PROCEDURES (a) Unless the chief election officer determines it is practical to use a vote counting unit, a storage ballot compartment as defined herein, shall be used for all special voting opportunities. Amended by 1376.01 March 22, 2021 Amended by 1376.01 March 22, 2021 BYLAW 1376 Page 8 Amended by 1376.01 March 22, 2021 Amended by 1376.02 February 14, 2022 (b) The following procedures for voting and conducting the voting proceedings apply to the special voting opportunities: i. In the case of residents who are confined to their beds, the Presiding Election Official and an Election Official as appointed by the Chief Election Officer shall at the request of the resident, attend at the bedside of that patient and after verification that the resident is an eligible voter, proceed with the general voting process. (c) The presiding election official at a special voting opportunity shall ensure that the storage ballot compartment is secured when not in use and at the close of voting at the final special voting opportunity, the presiding election official shall seal the storage ballot compartment and return it together with all other election materials to the custody of the chief election officer. 13. MAIL IN BALLOTS Authorization (a) Voting by mail ballot and elector registration by mail in conjunction with mail ballot voting are hereby authorized. 2) Application Procedure (a) A person wishing to vote by mail ballot shall apply by giving their name and address to the chief election officer or to the person designated by the chief election officer for such purposes, during the period commencing 7 days before the first day of advance voting and ending at 4:00 pm on the Thursday two days before general voting day. (b) Upon receipt of a request for a mail ballot, the chief election officer or designate shall, between the first day of advanced voting and 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday two days before general voting day: i. make available to the applicant, a mail ballot package as specified in section 110(7) of the Local Government Act, together with a statement advising the elector that the elector must meet one or more of the mail ballot criteria specified in the Mail In Ballot Authorization Section of this bylaw, and that they must attest to such fact; and (c) immediately record and, upon request, make available for inspection: Bylaw 1376 Page 9 i. the name and address of the elector to whom the mail ballot package was issued. Voting Procedure (a) To vote using a mail ballot, the elector shall mark the ballot in accordance with the instructions contained in the mail ballot package provided by the chief election officer. (b) After marking the ballot, the elector shall: i) place the ballot in the secrecy envelope provided and seal the secrecy envelope; ii) place the secrecy envelope in the certification envelope, and complete and sign the certification printed on such envelope, and then seal the certification envelope; iii) place the certification envelope, together with a completed elector registration application, if required, in the outer envelope, and then seal the outer envelope; iv) mail, or have delivered, the outer envelope and its contents to the chief election officer at the address specified so that it is received no later than the close of voting on general voting day. Ballot Acceptance or Rejection (a) Until 4:00 pm. on the Thursday two days before general voting day, upon receipt of the outer envelope and its contents, the chief election officer or designate shall immediately record the date of such receipt and shall then open the outer envelope and remove and examine the certification envelope and the completed elector registration application, if applicable, and if satisfied as to: i. the identity and entitlement to vote of the elector whose ballot is enclosed; ii. the completeness of the certification; and iii. the fulfilment of the requirements of section 70 of the Local Government Act in the case of a person who is registering as a new elector; the chief election officer or designate shall mark the certification envelope as “accepted”, and shall retain in his custody all such certification envelopes in order to deal with any challenges made in accordance with the Challenge Section of this bylaw. BYLAW 1376 Page 10 (b) The unopened certification envelopes shall remain in the custody of the chief election officer or designate until 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday two days before general voting day, at which time the certification envelopes containing the secrecy envelopes shall be opened in the presence of at least one other person, including any scrutineers present. (c) At 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday two days before general voting day, the chief election officer or designate shall place all secrecy envelopes received up until that time into a ballot box specified for such purpose, where such secrecy envelopes were received from persons whose right to vote using a mail ballot has not been challenged, or where such challenge has been resolved and the challenged person permitted to vote. (d) Where an outer envelope and its contents are received by the chief election officer or designate between 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday two days before general voting day and the close of voting on general voting day, the provisions of Mail In Ballot Acceptance and Rejection Section of this bylaw with regard to ballot acceptance shall apply and the chief election officer or designate shall retain such envelopes in their possession until the close of voting and at that time shall open such certification envelopes in the presence of at least one other person, including any scrutineers present, and place the secrecy envelope containing the ballot into the ballot box containing the other unopened secrecy envelopes. (e) As soon as possible after all of the secrecy envelopes have been placed in the ballot box designated for that purpose, the ballot box shall be opened under the supervision of the chief election officer or designate, and in the presence of at least one other person and any scrutineers present, the secrecy envelopes shall be opened and the ballots contained therein counted in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act. Where: (a) upon receipt of an outer envelope, the chief election officer is not satisfied as to the identity of the elector whose ballot is enclosed; or (b) in the case of a person required to complete an application for registration as an elector, such application has not been completed in accordance with section 70 of the Local Government Act; or (c) the outer envelope is received by the chief election officer or designate after the close of voting on general voting day, Bylaw 1376 Page 11 the certification envelope shall remain unopened and the chief election officer shall mark such envelope as “rejected”, and shall note the reasons therefore, and the ballot contained therein shall not be counted in the election. (d) Any certification envelopes and their contents rejected in accordance with Mail In Ballot Acceptance or Rejection Section of the bylaw shall remain unopened and shall be subject to the provisions of section 160(2) of the Local Government Act with regard to their destruction. Challenge of Elector (a) A person exercising the right to vote under the provisions of this bylaw may be challenged in accordance with and on the grounds specified in section 126 of the Local Government Act, until 4:00 pm on the Thursday two days before general voting day. (b) The provisions of sections 126(2) to (5) inclusive of the Local Government Act shall apply where a challenge of an elector using a mail ballot has been made. Elector’s Name Already Used (a) Where, upon receiving a request for a mail ballot, the chief election officer determines that another person has voted or has already been issued a mail ballot in the elector’s name, the provisions of section 127 of the Local Government Act shall apply, so far as applicable. Replacement of Spoiled Ballot (a) Where an elector unintentionally spoils a mail ballot before returning it to the chief election officer, the elector may request a replacement ballot by advising the chief election officer or designate of the ballot spoilage and by mailing or otherwise delivering by any appropriate means, the spoiled ballot package in its entirety to the chief election officer or designate. (b) The chief election officer shall, upon receipt of the spoiled ballot package, record such fact, and proceed in accordance with the Mail In Ballot Application Section of this bylaw. 14. PROCEDURES AFTER CLOSE OF VOTING ON GENERAL VOTING DAY (a) After the close of voting on general voting day, each presiding election official, except those responsible for advance and special voting opportunities, shall undertake all of the following, generally in the order stipulated: BYLAW 1376 Page 12 i. ensure that any remaining ballots in the storage ballot compartment are inserted into the vote counting unit; ii. secure the vote counting unit so that no more ballots can be inserted; iii. generate three copies of the results tape from the vote counting unit; iv. telephone the result to election headquarters immediately; v. account for the unused, spoiled and voted ballots and place them, packaged and sealed separately, together with the memory pack from the vote counting unit and one copy of the results tape, into the ballots and results box; vi. complete the ballot account and place the duplicate copy in the ballots and results box; vii. seal the ballots and results box; viii. place the voting books, list of electors, the original copy of the ballot account, one copy of the results tape, completed registration cards, keys and all completed forms into the election materials box; and ix. deliver, or have available for pick-up, the sealed ballots and results box, vote counting unit and the election materials box, to the chief election officer at election headquarters. (b) At the close of voting on general voting day, the chief election officer shall direct the presiding election official for the advance voting opportunity and any special voting opportunities where vote counting units were used, to proceed in accordance with Section 12 (a) of this Bylaw. (c) All portable ballot boxes used in the election will be opened, under the direction of the chief election officer, at the close of voting on general voting day and all ballots shall be removed and inserted into a vote counting unit to be counted, after which the provision of Sections 12 (a) (i) to (ix), so far as applicable, shall apply. (d) Upon the fulfilment of the provisions of Section 12 inclusive, the chief election officer shall, to obtain the election results, direct an election official to place the results in a spreadsheet, which may be used for display in the election location, indicating the total results. Bylaw 1376 Page 13 15. RECOUNT PROCEDURE (a) If a recount is requested by a candidate after the preliminary election results are announced, it shall be conducted under the direction of the chief election officer using the automated vote counting system and generally in accordance with the following procedure: i. the memory packs of all vote counting units will be cleared; ii. a vote counting unit will be designated for each voting place; iii. all voted ballots will be removed from the sealed election materials boxes, except spoiled ballots, and reinserted in the appropriate vote counting unit under the supervision of the chief election officer; iv. any ballots returned by the vote counting unit during the recount process shall, through the use of the ballot return override procedure, be reinserted in the vote counting unit to ensure that any acceptable marks are counted; and v. to obtain election results, the chief or deputy chief election officer shall place the results of each voting place on spreadsheets so as to tally the total election results. 16. RESOLUTION OF TIE VOTE AFTER JUDICIAL RECOUNT (a) In the event of a tie vote after a judicial recount, the tie vote will be resolved by conducting a lot in accordance with section 151 of the Local Government Act. 17. NUMBER OF SCRUTINEERS AT VOTING PLACES (a) As authorized under section 120 of the Local Government Act, the number of scrutineers for each candidate that may attend at an election is one (1) scrutineer for each ballot box in use. 18. NUMBER OF SCRUTINEERS FOR ASSENT VOTING (a) As authorized under section 181 of the Local Government Act, for assent voting, the number of scrutineers for the question and the number of scrutineers against the question that may attend at each voting place is one (1) scrutineer. BYLAW 1376 Page 14 19. WATER COUNCILLOR VOTING Voting procedures for two (2) Water Councillors will be in accordance with this Bylaw, with the exception that the registration for voting in this jurisdiction will proceed as follows: (a) Only residents or property owners described in sections 65, 66, and 67 of the Local Government Act, of the area described as Systems 1 – 7 of the Rural Waterworks Area are required to register at the time of voting. 20. GENERAL (a) Any enactment referred to herein is a reference to an enactment of British Columbia and regulations thereto, as amended, revised, consolidated or replaced from time to time. (b) If any part, section, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Bylaw is for any reason held to be invalid by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalid portion shall be severed and the decision that it is invalid shall not affect the validity of the remainder which shall continue in full force and effect and be construed as if the Bylaw had been adopted without the invalid portion. Election Procedure Bylaw No. 960, 1999, Voting Day Registration Bylaw No. 1028, 2002, and Automated Voting Machine 1124 are hereby repealed. READ A FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD TIME on 26th day of March, 2018 ADOPTED on 9th day of April, 2018. ‘Original Signed by Mayor’ ‘Original Signed by Corporate Officer’ MAYOR CORPORATE OFFICER TOWN OF OLIVER Municipal Election Saturday, November 19, 2011 To Vote: Completely fill in the oval beside the name(s) of the candidate(s) you wish to vote for. JONES, Reg HOLLER, Pete MAYOR You may vote for ONE (1) candidate for this office. MARTIN, Diane BIEBER, John DONAT, Mary BEST, Tina SMITH, Tom LAST, Laura EAST, Rena JOLLY, Cal COUNCILLOR You may vote for FOUR (4) candidates for this office. CASPER, Mike EVER, Thomas HALE, Terry ZERR, Randy SCHOOL TRUSTEE - SD #53 You may vote for TWO (2) candidates for this office. REFERENDUM QUESTION YES NO “Do you approve Council of the Town of Oliver adopting Road Capital Loan Authorization Bylaw 1302, which will authorize Council to borrow a sum not to exceed $2,500,000 for the reconstruction of roads and construction of new sidewalks and walkways including planning, studying, designing and construction within the boundaries of the Town of Oliver for the following projects: re-construction of 350th Avenue (Hwy 97 to 103rd Street), sidewalk construction on 350th Avenue (107th Street to 119th Street) and construction of a walkway on east side of the Okanagan River (350th Avenue to approximately 1.3 km north)?" FRONT Card 1 SEQ# 1 THIS SIDE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK BACK Card 1 SEQ# 1 Canadian IIIP Eagle Demonstration Election To Vote, completely fill in the arrow(s) pointing to your choice like this: Use ONLY the provided marking device MAYOR THREE Year Term Vote for one only BROADBENT, ED CLARK, JOE DIEFENBAKER, JOHN MULRONEY, BRIAN TRUDEAU, PIERRE TURNER; JOHN Are you in favour of building a new City Hall at an estimated cost of $10 million? YES NO Would you be in favour of an increase in the G.S.T. if it was accompanied by a legislative requirement that all the proceeds would be used to reduce the YES national debt? NO a a a a a a y y NO Ng mg a mg a El a Ng a Ng OFFICE OF COUNCILLOR THREE Year Term Vote for not more than Eight ACKROYD, DAN ADAMS, BRYAN ATWOOD, MARGARET CANDY, JOHN FOX, MICHAEL J. GOULET, ROBERT GREENE, LORNE GRETZKY, WAYNE KIDDER, MARGOT LITTLE, RICH LOMBARDO, GUY LLYOD, CHRISTOPHER McNEIL, RITA MITCHELL, JONI MURRAY, ANN NELLIGAN, KATE PLUMMER, CHRISTOPHER SHATNER, WILLIAM SHORT, MARTIN YOUNG, NEIL a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a y y mg y y y me OFFICE OF SCHOOL TRUSTEE FOUR Year Term Vote for not more than Seven BENNET, W.A.C. CAMERON, DON DAVIS, BILL DEVINE, GRANT DOUGLAS, TOMMY DUPLESSIS, MAURICE GETTY, DON LEVESQUE, RENE LOUGHEED, PETER LYON, STERLING MANNING, ERNEST SCHREYER, ED SMALLWOOD, JOEY VANDER ZALM, BILL L