City of Powell River councillors received a report on the October 15 municipal election from the chief election officer and were advised that the turnout was “very good.”
Chris Jackson, providing an overview to mayor and council at the November 17 city council meeting, said it was his pleasure, as one of his final duties as chief election officer, to announce the final results in a public forum. He said there were four independent votes, for mayor, councillors, school trustees and the assent vote on the fire hall/emergency services facility.
Jackson said that with the assent vote, which had 2,450 votes in favour and 2,416 opposed to the new fire hall, the bylaw could proceed if council so chooses.
“What this means is, you do have the assent of the electors,” said Jackson. “It will come back before you and then you will make a decision on if you wish to proceed or not. This does not force council to proceed with adoption, however, it does allow you to consider if you choose.”
Jackson said he needed to talk about ballot accounting. Just over 11,000 voters were eligible to cast ballots and 5,251 voted, which was a 46.9 per cent elector turnout.
“It sounds low, but in terms of relative turnouts in other communities, it’s pretty good,” said Jackson. “Every single ballot was accounted for. There were 5,251 people voting and 5,251 votes were actually registered. It was an excellent day for the chief election officer and the election staff.”
Jackson said he was able to account for every ballot but there were some spoiled ballots. He said one of the great features of using voting machines is that if somebody casts more ballots than the maximum, the machine will advise that there are too many votes and the person is given a second chance.
“We spoil that ballot and the voter gets issued a new one,” added Jackson.
Councillor Jim Palm said he wanted to thank all those who sought office, vying for various seats. He said the number of people seeking office makes the city stronger.
He also thanked Jackson and his team of staff and volunteers.
“It’s not an easy task and we appreciate your fine work,” added Palm.
Councillor Rob Southcott said the chief election officer deserved high congratulations for such an amazing job.
Jackson said deputy election officer Jessica Lefort and Cathy Greiner deserve a lot of credit for their assistance with the election.
“I have an easy job,” said Jackson.
Council carried a motion to accept the report for information.
