The municipality of Wood Buffalo is seeking a Bill 20 exemption for the byelection

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is asking the province to be exempt from changes to municipal election rules as it prepares for a by-election.

A by-election will be held on November 4 in Ward 4, filling the seat left vacant by the death of Councilor Jane Stroud in August.

District 4 is predominantly rural and covers Anzac, Conklin, Gregoire Lake Estates and Janvier.

The new municipal election rules are part of the provincial government’s legislation to overhaul certain aspects of municipal governance, known as Bill 20.

Bill 20 amends two laws: the Local Government Elections Act and the Municipal Self-Government Act.

The Wood Buffalo Council voted unanimously on Sept. 10 to hold a Nov. 4 special election.

When the municipality planned the Ward 4 byelection, it didn’t consider the effects of Bill 20 taking effect, Jade Brown, the municipality’s chief legislative officer, said Tuesday.

“It is recommended that the board request an exemption for the purposes of the by-election to ensure that voters and candidates are not confused by the executive election systems,” she said.

Special ballots are one reason for the dismissal

According to Brown, one of the reasons for this exception is that House Bill 20 changes the rules for the use of special ballots.

Currently, a voter can only request a special ballot for a specific reason, such as incapacity or absence from the municipality.

Under the new set of rules, voters will be able to request special ballots for any reason.

“So there’s going to be a lot of reasons why you can claim that if it goes into effect on Oct. 31,” Brown said.

“It really doesn’t give us time to be able to adjust our process before the Nov. 4 date,” she said.

“I’m not sure that any municipality in the province is currently in by-election mode,” she added.

At Tuesday’s meeting, council voted unanimously to direct Mayor Sandy Bowman to write a letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver requesting that the Local Government Elections Act be withdrawn.

Bowman said he spoke with McIver and his office and said they were inclined to grant an exception.

“They undertook to sign the ministerial order and hand it over to us by the end of the week,” he said.

“We talked to them about what was going on,” he said.

“They understand the situation.”

In a statement to the CBC, McIver’s spokeswoman Heather Jenkins said they had heard from the RMWB about the upcoming by-election.

“We are currently reviewing this matter and will provide guidance to support a successful by-election for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo,” she said.