Last month, with Councillor Darrel Hill’s resignation, the village announced the by-elections to fill the vacant place on the council. But in order to do that, appointing elections officer needed to be the first step.

During the Nov. 3 council meeting, the council appointed village CAO Sheryl Worthing as the Chief Election Officer and Deputy Corporate Officer Valerie Anderson as the Deputy Chief Election Officer for the 2021 local by-election.

Worthing has held the position of either the Chief Election Officer or the Deputy Chief Election Officer during elections and by-elections held in the village in the past 25 years.

In September, Hill tendered his resignation to the Village of Burns Lake, from his position as one of the Councillors, in order to take up a position with the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) as the bylaw enforcement officer.

The by-election General voting date is set for Jan. 23, 2021 according to the village CAO Sheryl Worthing. She also provided the timeline leading up to the elections, with the notice of nomination going out on Nov. 9 and lasting until Dec. 1. The actual nomination period will begin on Dec. 8 and will go on until 4 p.m. on Dec. 18. The advance voting will be held on Jan. 13, 2021.

But until then, what does not having a councillor on the village council mean?

“It does not impact decision making, it just means we have only four elected officials instead of five. We still have quorum with four elected officials sitting at the table,” said Worthing.

Additionally, in light of Covid, and with several elections relying heavily on mail-in-ballots, the village will also have that provision in place. “Our bylaw allows us to accept mail-in ballots,” she said.

Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar

priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net

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