Thinking of running for Nelson city council or for the Regional District of Central Kootenay board?
You have until Sept. 9 to decide. That’s the deadline for submitting your nomination to the local elections officer, which can begin any time after Aug. 30.
School board elections will follow the same deadlines. Municipal elections and school board elections in B.C. are held every four years, which this year is scheduled for Oct. 15.
Local municipal elections are run by the municipality or regional district except for some financial aspects such as election spending limits, which are administered by Elections BC.
In Nelson, the city’s corporate officer Sarah Winton will be the chief elections officer, and Tom Dool will fill that role at the RDCK.
Beginning in late July, nomination papers will be downloadable from the RDCK website or available at the office at 202 Lakeside Dr. in Nelson.
For the City of Nelson, potential candidates will be able to download the forms from the city website starting the week of July 18, and they must hand deliver their completed papers no later than 4 p.m. on Sept. 9. They must sign the documents in front of the chief elections officer or the deputy. The forms will be available at https://www.nelson.ca/923/2022-General-Election.
At SD8, the forms are now online and can be found at https://bit.ly/3yHLjIg. There will be a return email address published on the SD8 website in the near future, or they can be dropped off at the school board office. As with the city and RDCK elections, candidates can register between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9.
To run in a municipal, regional, or school board election, according to provincial legislation, candidates need not reside or own property in the area where they are running for office. But they must have been a resident of B.C. for at least six months before filing nomination documents.
A candidate must be at least 18 years old and a Canadian citizen.
Beginning on Sept. 17, campaign advertising rules come into effect. These include candidate spending limits and rules for third party sponsors, all of which can be found at https://bit.ly/3Puc35K.
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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