Mail-in ballots likely available for Kelowna school trustee byelection
Mail in ballots will likely be available for the Central Okanagan school district byelection scheduled for June. Rolli Cacchioni, a long-time School District 23 trustee and former board chair, died on March 4. General voting day to replace him is June 26 and there are two advance...
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Mail in ballots will likely be available for the Central Okanagan school district byelection scheduled for June.
Rolli Cacchioni, a long-time School District 23 trustee and former board chair, died on March 4. General voting day to replace him is June 26 and there are two advance polls on June 16 and 23.
READ MORE: Flags flying at half mast following death of longtime Kelowna school trustee Rolli Cacchioni
“Typically, mail ballot voting is restricted to those who have physical disabilities or injuries or if they are going to be out of town on voting day or are otherwise prevented from going to a normal polling station,” Laura Bentley said. She’s Kelowna’s deputy city clerk who is serving as the returning officer for the school district byelection.
“We’ve submitted a request, similar to what other jurisdictions have done during the pandemic, to expand the mail ballot voting to all electors.”
Chilliwack and Langley, for example, held school trustee byelections during the pandemic and were allowed to use mail-in ballots. In Chilliwack, 1,430 mail in-ballots were cast out of a total of 10,710 for a byelection in February.
If the Ministry of Education agrees to allow expanded mail-in balloting in Kelowna, ballots won’t be available until after nominations close on May 21, Bentley said.
More information on how to get mail-in ballots will be posted on city and school board websites when it becomes available.
School District 23 covers the entire Central Okanagan but it has a ward system for trustees so only Kelowna residents can vote in this byelection.
Nomination papers are available at Kelowna City Hall.
A zoom information meeting for potential candidates will be held April 27 and 5 p.m. Register by email at Secretary.Treasurer@sd23.bc.ca.
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