Flin Flonners will go to the polls to fill a vacant spot on city council May 13.
Official dates for the upcoming byelection were confirmed by the City of Flin Flon and election officials March 4, with dates set for both advanced polls and the proper election day.
The brunt of the election will take place at City Hall council chambers May 13, with advance polls on May 6.
“The guy we’ve been speaking with from the provincial government said we would need about nine weeks,” said Katy Anderson, who was confirmed as senior election officer for the byelection March 3.
No opening date or deadline has currently been set for new candidates to register. Anderson said those dictates would come after review by a provincial election official, which is set to take place later this week.
The vacant seat on city council formerly belonged to Guy Rideout, who was elected in Flin Flon’s last byelection in 2016. After winning reelection in 2018, Rideout stepped down from council last month due to what was described as “personal reasons”.
Voting will only take place at City Hall, not at the Flin Flon Community Hall and the Northminster Memorial United Church like in previous years. Anderson said the reason for the change was due to the smaller turnout seen in byelections in the past. While 1,067 voters - only 26 per cent of eligible participants - cast ballots in 2018, only 514 votes were cast in the 2016 byelection that saw Rideout elected, less than half as many as cast ballots two years later.
