-Municipal and regional election day is Nov. 15-

OSOYOOS TIMES-September 24, 2008-

By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

The candidate nomination period for Osoyoos's November municipal election is only a few days away and so the Osoyoos Times has decided to look into how to become a candidate, who can run, important election deadlines and some of the results of some recent campaigns here in town.
Osoyoos's Corporate Services Director, Janette Van Vianen, is serving as the Town's chief election officer this year and she said nomination packages are already available at Osoyoos Town Hall on Main Street.
However, nomination papers can only be filed at Town Hall between 9 a.m. on Sept. 30 and 4 p.m. on Oct. 10.
Each potential candidate must have two qualified electors of the Town of Osoyoos nominate them for the office of mayor or one of the four councillor positions.
Electors are Canadian citizens 18 years of age or older who have lived in B.C. since May 15 and have lived in Osoyoos for at least 30 days before election day.
Candidates for the Town's two water councillor seats must be qualified to vote for water councillors for systems 8 and 9 of the (Osoyoos) Water District, Van Vianen said.
Water councillor candidates and their electors must also live within the area served by system 8 or 9 of the Water District.rnEach position has a term of three years.
Any Canadian citizens over the age of 18 who have lived in British Columbia since at least May 15 are eligible to run in the election as long as they are not disqualified by the B.C. Local Government Act or any other law from voting or running in an election in the province.
According to the act, judges, employees of local government and any person who is prohibited from holding elected office are also barred from running for municipal office.
If there are not enough candidates for the seven positions, the act requires that the local government must appoint a person to each vacant office, and that person must meet all of the nomination criteria listed above.
Should the new Town government be unable to appoint people to the vacant seats, the province would be responsible for the appointment.
In the 1999 Osoyoos municipal election, two candidates ran for mayor and 12 ran for council seats.
Information on the number of water councillor candidates was unavailable.
Three people ran for mayor in 2002 with 11 candidates seeking council seats and the water councillor positions were filled by acclamation.
Voter turnout that year was 54.8 per cent.
And in the last municipal election, in 2005, four people ran for mayor, nine ran for council and the water councillor seats were again filled by acclamation, with 57.2 per cent voter turnout.
As for advertising rules, candidates are not allowed to advertise in print, television or radio on the general voting day, which is Saturday, Nov. 15 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
And no election signs, including badges, can be set up or worn within 100 metres of the voting site, which is the Sonora Community Centre on 68th Avenue, on the general voting day.
The same rules apply for the advance voting day, which is Wednesday, Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Town council chambers.
Some other important deadlines to remember include the last day for challenging nominations which is Oct. 14 at 4 p.m.
The declaration of election by voting and/or the declaration of candidates elected by acclamation will take place Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.
Because the Town is using electronic voting machines this year, preliminary election results will be available after the end of voting on Nov. 15, Van Vianen said.
We will still be using paper ballots, however they will be tabulated electronically, she said.
The declaration of official election results must be done by 4 p.m. on Nov. 19.
Van Vianen said that should a recount be needed, that date and time would be determined by the chief election officer.
The judicial recount application period is between November 19 and 24 and must be completed by Nov. 28.
The rules listed above regarding candidates and electors also apply to those people interested in running for Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) area directors.
Candidates must have lived in their rural area for at least 30 days prior to the regional district's general voting day, which is also Nov. 15.
Nomination forms are available at the RDOS office at 101 Martin St. in Penticton from Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Nomination documents are also available at www.rdos.bc.ca
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