Slowly but surely, civic officials and prospective candidates are getting ready for this fall's civic election in the Battlefords.
The official nomination period has yet to begin and so far, the race is off to a typical slow start. No one has officially declared their candidacies yet, though it has been reported Mayor Ian Hamilton, coun. Ron Crush, and former council candidate Steven Cormons all intend to run.
In the town of Battleford, one prominent incumbent has already indicated he isn't seeking re-election: Battleford mayor Chris Odishaw.
Odishaw made it known several months ago he would be leaving the mayor's chair following the fall election. So far, no candidates have made official announcements about their intentions to run in the races for either mayor or council in Battleford.
The slow start in the Battlefords is a far cry from the pre-election scrambling under way in Regina and Saskatoon, where some candidates have been campaigning for a few months now for positions as mayor or councillor.
At least seven candidates have announced they are in the race for mayor of Regina to replace the retiring Pat Fiacco. Meanwhile, former mayor Henry Dayday announced he will challenge incumbent Don Atchison in Saskatoon, with others rumored to be considering a run as well.
However, it should also be noted the official nomination period is still some time away for the Oct. 24 vote.
Nominations for mayor and council are to be in by 4 p.m. on nomination day, Sept. 19, throughout Saskatchewan. A call for nominations will be issued ten business days prior to nomination day, stating the vacancies to be filled by election.
According to the rules, persons eligible for nomination as a candidate in an urban municipality must be at least 18 years old on election day, be a Canadian citizen, have resided in the municipality for at least three consecutive months immediately preceding the date nomination paper is submitted, and have resided in Saskatchewan for at least six consecutive months immediately preceding the date nomination paper is submitted.
In Battleford and North Battleford, nomination papers would need to be signed by at least five voters of the municipality or ward (if applicable).That differs from the larger communities, as an urban municipality or ward with a population of 20,000 or more would require signatures of at least 25 electors.
Both Battleford and North Battleford will again operate on the at-large system of electing councillors, with the top six candidates receiving the highest number of votes elected to each council.
Criminal record checks are not required to be submitted for candidates running in either Battleford or North Battleford.
At Monday night's council meeting, North Battleford continued its preparations for the fall election by establishing polling places at hospitals and personal care facilities. Those would be open to patients at Battlefords Union Hospital between 9 and 11:30 a.m. on election, to River Heights Lodge residents between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m., and Villa Pascal residents between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., all on election day Oct. 24.
As well, council also voted to establish a mobile poll for those electors with physical disability or limited mobility, as well as for caregivers unable to attend a polling place due to the care required to be given to an elector. An application deadline is set for Oct. 17 with the mobile poll operation Oct. 24.
City and town officials are not the only ones preparing for the fall vote. Also getting ready is the News-Optimist and Regional Optimist, which encourages potential candidates in the coming days to contact the newsroom to make known their plans to run.
The newsroom can be reached by email at [email protected] and by phone at 445-7261.
As well, the News-Optimist plans to run Election Forum pages during the fall campaign, which will profile the candidates running in the fall election. Further details are still to come.
