The Town of Creston will soon have two new councillors taking their seats – Keith Baldwin and Norm Eisler.
The fall byelection was held to fill two vacant seats left by the resignations of councillors Karen Unruh and Ellen Tzakis earlier this year.
READ MORE: Ellen Tzakis resigns from Creston Town Council
READ MORE: Karen Unruh’s Resignation Letter
The polls closed at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18, with the preliminary results announced just 45 minutes later.
Five candidates were in the running – including Baldwin, Eisler, Keith Goforth, Bill Hutchinson, and Nora Maddocks.
Eisler received 572 votes in his favour, followed by 529 votes for Baldwin. In third place, 486 ballets were cast for Goforth, 418 for Hutchinson, and 381 for Maddocks.
“I think this will make for a positive year to support the mayor’s team in their mandate,” said Baldwin, who was in attendance at Rotacrest Hall for the count.
“I have lots of ideas, but all constructive, positive and friendly. I am excited to be working with (Eisler). I think that together we’ll bring a fresh balance to the current council.”
To finalize the results, an official declaration will be made on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m.
“This will give the candidates the time and opportunity to ask any questions or make appeals,” said chief election officer Kirsten Dunbar.
“The numbers shouldn’t change because we used a vote-counting machine. It was a bit different in the past when ballots were counted manually.”
Residents seemed eager to show up to the polls, with a total of 1,242 votes counted. In comparison, there were 617 ballots cast in the last byelection in 2017 held for one open position on council.
“I think we had a really good turnout for our byelection, and it went smoothly considering the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Dunbar.
