{"id":3707,"date":"2020-05-13T09:28:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T12:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=3707"},"modified":"2020-09-21T16:29:10","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T19:29:10","slug":"municipal-elections-will-go-ahead-despite-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2020\/05\/13\/municipal-elections-will-go-ahead-despite-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal Elections Will Go Ahead Despite Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 will not delay this fall\u2019s municipal elections.<\/p>\n

Municipal Affairs Minister Chuck Porter confirmed in a letter sent to the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, Pam Mood, that elections scheduled to be held in October will go ahead.<\/p>\n

\n

Thinking of running for municipal council? The Fall 2020 Elections will go ahead as planned, Minister Chuck Porter of @dma_ns<\/a> says in a letter to NSFM Pres @PamMood<\/a> this morning. More: https:\/\/t.co\/aTlwP61vBD<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/TAJqlcQUMh<\/a><\/p>\n

— Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities (@nsfedmuni) May 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Porter says this is an unprecedented time and it\u2019s more important than ever to preserve citizen\u2019s democratic rights.<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s aware there are a number of municipalities with vacancies on their councils.<\/p>\n

Porter writes, \u201cIf we delay elections beyond October, there will be thousands of Nova Scotians who will not have a representative at the table when those councils make important decisions about the future of their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pam Mood, who is also Mayor of Yarmouth, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a huge undertaking, more than a regular election at a regular time. But the democratic process is what we have and it\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his letter, Porter says coronavirus precautions must still be followed during the election.<\/p>\n

He encourages municipalities to use alternative voting methods such as voting by mail, telephone or online instead of, or in addition to traditional paper ballots.<\/p>\n

The municipal affairs minister also suggests candidates use signs, printed materials, telephone, social media, or virtual options to try and woo voters rather than going door-to-door.<\/p>\n

Mood says door knocking is one example where the federation will be looking to the province to ensure every candidate is treated fairly regardless of which municipality they\u2018re campaigning in.<\/p>\n

\u201cEither there is door-to-door knocking or there isn\u2019t. It can\u2019t just be in one place and not another. The rules, provincially, need to be followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mood says to achieve that level playing field may mean ministerial orders being issued by the department of municipal affairs.<\/p>\n

Still, she has concerns the timing of the election isn\u2019t great.<\/p>\n

Mood says even if the COVID-19 curve is flattened, the recovery will take a very long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job that has to be done to ensure that we keep moving forward economically and on every other front is huge, it\u2019s huge, and we will be running a campaign in the middle of a clean up. That\u2019s daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Region of Queens Mayor David Dagley says COVID-19 will present challenges for candidates vying for office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will be a bit difficult to certainly reach out to all residents during a campaign in municipal election in 2020. However the minister of municipal affairs is the one who has the authority to determine if the election will be held with a vote in October.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dagley says the municipality has been preparing all along for a fall election and the decision by Chuck Porter will certainly light a fire under those preparations.<\/p>\n

NSFM president Mood says she will be discussing the minister\u2019s decision with mayors and wardens from across the province and will bring their concerns to Porter.<\/p>\n

Reported by Ed Halverson\u00a0<\/strong>
\nE-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com<\/a><\/strong>
\nTwitter: @edwardhalverson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 will not delay this fall\u2019s municipal elections. Municipal Affairs Minister Chuck Porter confirmed in a letter sent to the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, Pam Mood, that elections scheduled to be held in October will go ahead. Thinking of running for municipal council? The Fall 2020 Elections will go ahead as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3708,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3707\/revisions\/3708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}