The Byelection for a new Smithers mayor has been officially called.
During a special open meeting Wednesday, Council appointed Chief and Deputy Chief Election Officer.
A general voting date must now be set within 80 days,which makes Oct 17 the last possible date to have the election.
Deputy Mayor Gladys Atrill has been the only candidate so far to show an interest in running for the mayor position.
The byelection was called in March but was rescinded a week later because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of Phase 3 in BC’s Restart Plan the province and the Town lifted the restriction on byelections.
In a statement Wednesday the province announced some safety protocols for voting:
- Offering enhanced mail-ballot voting options
- Offering additional advanced voting opportunities
- Selecting and setting up a voting place for physically distant, in person voting
- Reducing high touch interactions for voter registration, solemn declarations and signing voting books
- Managing curbside voting or special voting opportunities to improve access to voting.
Smithers has been without a mayor since November after Taylor Bachrach won the federal election.