Wednesday's scheduled byelection for two vacant seats on Flin Flon’s city council will go ahead, though the City is monitoring COVID-19 to make sure it doesn’t wreak havoc.
The byelection is still set to take place May 12, with all voting being done at Flin Flon City Hall in council chambers from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. The four candidates - Leslie Beck, Bill Hanson, Carrie Hume and Tom Therien - have each confirmed their candidacy and filed the necessary paperwork.
Senior election official Katy Anderson confirmed to The Reminder May 11 that the vote would still go forward, despite new health orders in effect across Manitoba. In terms of procedure, the council plans to hold the byelection in a similar way as the byelection held last year, with workers outfitted with personal protective equipment and mandatory masks and social distancing inside City Hall.
As a result of new COVID-19 health orders put into effect May 9, only four voters will be allowed inside council chambers at a time and only two voters will be allowed to wait their turn in the City Hall lobby - all other voters will need to wait in line outside while keeping a two-metre distance. The reason for the tight limits is the province's new health order restricting public spaces like City Hall to 10 per cent capacity.
Voters will be pointed toward one of 11 available polling stations in the main chamber, with whichever poll voters use determined by where they live. Election workers will point voters toward the correct poll. Every voter will be given a golf pencil to tick the box of their preferred candidate, which they will then take with them when they leave the hall.
With increased COVID-19 cases throughout Manitoba - including variants of concern cases - organizers are carefully monitoring case loads, particularly in the north. As of May 11, total COVID-19 cases in most of northern Manitoba are either staying pat or dropping.
The Reminder sent questionnaires to each candidate prior to the byelection, including several questions about prominent local issues. The results can be seen at this link.
