TAMRMS#: B06
10.1
REQUEST FOR DECISION
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Bylaw 27/2024 Municipal Elections Bylaw (2nd & 3rd Readings)
Presented by: Marta Caufield, Director, Legal, Legislative & Records Services
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RECOMMENDED MOTION(S)
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1. That Bylaw 27/2024 Municipal Elections be read a second time.
2. That Bylaw 27/2024 be read a third time.
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SUMMARY
Administration is presenting a new Municipal Elections Bylaw for Council’s consideration as a result of the changes made by the province in Bill 20. This agenda report outlines the changes that are being proposed, as well as the rationale for them, and includes a section regarding what was not added to the Bylaw.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
Bylaw 27/2024 is being presented to Council for consideration as a result of legislative changes made by the province in the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 (Bill 20), which amends the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) and the Municipal Government Act (MGA). The amendments set out in Bill 20 significantly change the way in which administration must conduct the next municipal general election (October 20, 2025). The Bill received Royal Assent on May 30, 2024, and its election provisions came into effect on proclamation on October 31, 2024.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
In this section, we provide an overview of the changes made by Bill 20, an overview of the current Municipal Elections Bylaw, and outline the changes made in the new proposed Municipal Elections Bylaw. Additionally, we explain why the requirement for persons seeking to be nominated as a candidate to submit a criminal record check has not been added to the new Bylaw, why administration recommends that deposits for nomination not be required, and why administration recommends that the date of the election day not be moved to the Saturday immediately preceding the third Monday in October.
1. Municipal Elections
In each general election, electors in St. Albert can cast their vote for mayor, councillors, and school trustees. In addition, the City and the Province have the authority to add referendum and other questions to the municipal ballot.
2. Bill 20
The Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 (Bill 20) significantly amends the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA), which regulates municipal and school board election procedures including election financing, candidate nominations, voting processes, and the counting of ballots. With the changes brought forth in Bill 20, the City needs to significantly revamp its election processes together with a revision of the current Municipal Elections Bylaw. If the City’s Municipal Elections Bylaw is not updated, then the City will not be in compliance with Bill 20.
2024 Amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act
The amendments made to the LAEA by Bill 20 will impact the operational implementation of the 2025 St. Albert Election.
These amendments include the following:
• The prohibition on automated voting equipment (voting tabulators).
• The requirement for the returning officer to conduct a recount, at the request of the second place candidate, if the margin of victory is within a 0.5 per cent threshold.
• The mandatory implementation of a permanent electors register using information contained in the provincial register of electors, supplemented by information obtained and maintained by the municipality.
• More complex requirements for electors to prove their eligibility to vote:
a. Identification requirements will now vary depending on whether or not the elector is on the permanent electors register.
b. Vouching is limited to the ability to vouch for an elector’s address, as opposed to being able to vouch for the elector’s identity, address, and age.
c. Alberta driver’s licences and identification cards containing post office box addresses are now acceptable.
• Expanded special (mail in) ballot eligibility and the implementation of new special ballot voter registration and verification processes.
• New requirements for individuals to submit their notice of intent to run to the municipality before raising or spending campaign funds, and for municipalities to maintain a public register of candidates.
• The expansion of the campaign period to four years and implementation of annual reporting requirements for all candidates who have declared their notice of intent to run.
• New requirements for local authorities to redact certain personal information before releasing candidate nomination papers and financial disclosures.
• New option for local jurisdictions to require, by bylaw, candidate nominations to be accompanied by a criminal record check.
• The expansion of the third-party advertising definition to include taking a position on a vote on a bylaw or question.
• The introduction of political parties and slates of candidates, where enabled by
regulation. The provincial government has indicated that this approach will be piloted in Edmonton and Calgary.
• Repeal the ability for a candidate’s official agent or scrutineer to object to an elector.
• New ministerial powers to extend or adjourn voting times in the event of an emergency.
• Clarifying rules and streamlining processes for scrutineers.
3. Current Municipal Elections Bylaw
Given the changes that will be made by Bill 20, the City’s current Municipal Elections Bylaw 20/2017 requires significant additions and revisions. The following sections need to be updated significantly:
• Section 2. Definitions: Revision required.
• Section 4. Ballot Cards: Revision required due to the introduction of manual ballot counting.
• Section 5. Automated Voting System: Entire section needs to be removed.
• Section 6. Advance Votes: Removal of reference to tabulators required.
• Section 8. Voting Procedures: Revision regarding tabulators required.
• Section 9. Post Voting Procedure on Election Day: Revision regarding tabulators required.
• Section 10. Counting Centre: Revision regarding tabulators required.
• Section 11. Rejected Ballots: Revision regarding tabulators required.
• Section 12. Recount by Returning Officer: Revision regarding automated voting system needs to be removed.
• Section 13. General: Revision regarding tabulators required.
Due to significant changes required to the current Municipal Elections Bylaw, administration is recommending that the current Municipal Elections Bylaw be repealed and a new Municipal Elections Bylaw be approved.
4. New Proposed Municipal Elections Bylaw
The proposed Municipal Elections Bylaw 27/2024 maintains the general requirements of the current bylaw as much as possible (for example - the voting hours of 8am to 8pm on election day are maintained without any changes) and sets out the new requirements in compliance with Bill 20 to ensure the City runs a legislatively compliant election. In addition, administration completed a holistic review of the bylaw, focused on ensuring that the election is as accessible as possible to all electors.
The proposed bylaw is organized into 11 parts as follows and addresses the following:
• Part 1 Name, purpose, application and definitions. Definitions have been updated and added as required.
• Part 2 Authority of CAO and Returning Officer. This part of the Bylaw allows the CAO to enter into agreements with other local jurisdictions (school boards) to conduct elections on their behalf, provides for the appointment of the Returning Officer and Substitute Returning Officer appointments, provides for the authority of the Returning Officer to designate voting subdivisions within the City as well as authorities for the set up and organizing of the City’s voting stations.
• Part 3 Pre-Election Procedures. This part addresses the requirement for the City to prepare a permanent electors register of residents in the City who are entitled to vote and for the receipt of nominations and the filing requirements.
• Part 4 Election Day Preparation. This part sets out the date on which the general municipal election will be held (the third Monday in October in the year of the general election), the authority for establishing the form and contents of the ballots, and the new expanded process for voters to request to vote via special ballot.
• Part 5 Advance Vote. This part addresses the requirement for the City to hold an advance vote in accordance with the LAEA and provides for the Returning Officer to determine the details of the advance vote in the City.
• Part 6 Election Day Voting. This part sets out the processes that must be followed on election day including instructions for electors, voting hours, the issuance of a ballot, the ID requirements, the voting procedure and post voting process. There is also a section addressing elector assistance and institutional votes, as well as process related to spoiled and rejected ballots.
• Part 7 Counting of Ballots. This part addresses the process for the manual counting of ballots and the attendance of one official scrutineer per candidate to be present during the counting of the votes. Special ballots, advance vote ballots, and institutional ballots will be counted at the counting centre, and these ballots may be counted starting at 7:30pm on election day. This part also addresses functions required of the Presiding Deputy at the voting stations after the poll has closed, and the procedures that will be followed during recounts.
• Part 8, Vote on a Bylaw/Question. This part describes the process for determining dates of votes on questions or bylaws, if required, which is to align them with the date of a municipal election if possible.
• Part 9, Scrutineers. This part outlines the process by which a scrutineer is appointed, and adopts Standards for Conduct of Scrutineers which must be complied with, as well as the process for the warning and removal of scrutineers if they fail to comply with the Standards for Conduct of Scrutineers.
• Part 10, Offences. This part outlines the offences, fines, and issuance of tickets. There is a $250 fine associated with not complying with the Standards for Conduct of Scrutineers in the Bylaw for a first offence.
• Part 11, Repeal. This is a general section and also provides for the repeal of Bylaw 20/20217 (the current Municipal Elections Bylaw).
In addition to the 11 parts of Bylaw 27/2024 as outlined above, there are also three schedules:
• Schedule “A”, Standards for Conduct of Scrutineers;
• Schedule “B”, Form: Warning of Failure to Comply with the Standards for Conduct of Scrutineers; and
• Schedule “C”, Offence Penalties.
5. Items Not Included in New Bylaw
A. Criminal Record Checks
Bill 20 added a new section to the LAEA which says that “an elected authority, by bylaw passed prior to December 31 of the year before a year in which a general election is to be held, may require a person seeking to be nominated as a candidate to provide a criminal record check.” Bill 20 also added a new section to the LAEA which states that “a candidate is disqualified and becomes ineligible to continue as a candidate if, on or after a candidate’s nomination has been accepted…and on or before election day, the candidate is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for 5 or more years, or under section 123, 124 or 125 of the Criminal Code of Canada.”
These sections align with section 174 of the MGA, which outlines the reasons why a councillor may be disqualified from council, which includes “if the councillor is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for 5 or more years, or under section 123, 124 or 125 of the Criminal Code of Canada.”
Administration has not included the requirement for candidate nominations to be accompanied by a criminal record check in the Bylaw for the following reasons:
• As long as the criminal record check is clear and indicates there is no record, there is no issue. However, if the candidate does have a criminal record, the standard form that the RCMP provides does not indicate which section of the Criminal Code of Canada said person has been convicted under.
• The candidate would then have to go through a criminal record verification process in order to show that the criminal record was for a charge other than under section 123, 124, or 125 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
• The criminal record verification process could be lengthy with the requirement for fingerprinting.
• There is no such form or process for a candidate to get a check that will confirm that they do not have a conviction set out above.
• The LAEA already stipulates that every nomination of a candidate must be accompanied with a written acceptance sworn or affirmed in the prescribed form by the person nominated, stating that the person is eligible to be elected to the office. This means that candidates are required to swear or affirm that, among other requirements, they have not been convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for 5 or more years, or under section 123, 124 or 125 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which aligns with the reasons for disqualification of councillors in section 174 of the MGA.
• If a criminal record check was received, administration would have to comply with the requirements of Bill 20, which provide that “the results of the criminal record check must not be withheld or redacted…except to ensure that the mailing address of the candidate and of the candidate’s official agent is not disclosed.” However, this is contrary to the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and there is no guidance provided on how much of the criminal record check should be redacted.
Given these issues with criminal record checks, the process already in place when candidates submit their nomination forms, and how little probative value there would be from requesting criminal record checks, administration does not recommend including this requirement in the new Municipal Elections Bylaw.
B. Deposits
The LAEA provides that a municipality may by bylaw require that every nomination be accompanied with a deposit in the amount fixed in the bylaw. An amount fixed in the bylaw may not exceed $1000 in municipalities with a population of more than 10,000. This means St. Albert has the ability to require every nomination to be accompanied by a deposit no higher than $1000.
Candidates running in provincial elections in Alberta are required to pay a $500 deposit with their nomination form. Candidates running in federal elections in Canada are no longer required to pay deposits as part of their nomination requirements. Prior to 2017, there was a requirement to pay a $1000 deposit to run as a prospective candidate in a federal election.
If a deposit was required, administration would have to comply with section 31 of the LAEA which requires deposits to be returned to candidates if the candidate is declared elected, if the candidate obtains a number of votes equal to at least half of the total number of votes cast for the candidate elected to the office with the least number of votes, or if the candidate withdraws at any time during the nomination period. If the candidate does not obtain at least half of the total number of votes cast for the candidate elected to the office with the least number of votes, the deposit would be required to be paid into the general revenue of the City.
With a focus on keeping elections as accessible as possible, administration does not recommend adding a deposit requirement to the bylaw.
C. Moving Election Date
The LAEA states that election day for a local jurisdiction is “in the case of a general election…to be the 3rd Monday in October”. Municipalities are permitted to, by bylaw passed prior to June 30 of a year in which a general election is to be held, provide that the election day is to be “the Saturday immediately preceding the 3rd Monday in October.”
Administration considered this as an option for the 2025 Municipal Election on the basis of the potential conflict with the federal election. However, the LAEA also states that in any year in which there is a Senate election or a referendum added to the ballot, the change made by bylaw with respect to the election day for the general election is “of no force and effect” and the general election shall revert back to the 3rd Monday in October.
Given the uncertainty this would create in terms of planning the election, administration does not recommend moving the election day to the Saturday immediately preceding the third Monday in October.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
Administration is connecting with and participating in discussion groups with regional municipalities (including their clerks, returning officers, election coordinators, and municipal lawyers) on a regular basis to discuss the matters of the upcoming municipal general election in 2025. Administration has also attended engagement sessions with the Alberta Municipals Clerks Association with respect to the changes made in Bill 20 and the upcoming municipal election.
Administration’s approach and analysis with respect to the next municipal election and Bylaw 27/2024 is in line with other administrations across the province.
Red Deer is presented a similar elections bylaw to their Council for first reading on October 15, 2024.
IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
There are no direct financial implications of approving Bylaw 27/2024.
Administration is currently in the process of compiling the additional costs to the City in order to run a legislatively compliant election in 2025 due to the new requirements found in Bill 20. Additional costs are expected as a result of the following:
• Voter Registry Software:
o Costs associated with the creation and maintaining of the permanent electors register.
o Equipment for real time strike off at voting stations (advance vote and election day).
• Temporary Staffing:
o Increased number of election workers to update the permanent electors register.
o Increased number of election workers to count the ballots.
o Increased staff to implement the new processes for receiving completed special ballot packages and verifying special ballot voters.
• Voting Stations/Counting Centre:
o Rental costs for voting stations due to renting the spaces for longer periods of time to allow for manual counting of ballots and for the counting centre.
o Developing a hand counting process for election night ballots, recount and judicial recounts.
• Security:
o Hiring of security personnel at voting stations during manual counting of ballots.
• Training:
o Creation of new processes and increased costs for training on new processes.
o Post election data management and reporting to the Chief Electoral Officer.
• Supplies:
o Increased cost for ballots, ballot boxes, design, printing and organizing to assist with four races and possible referendum questions if required - as a result of manual counting.
o Increased costs for printing and postage for additional special ballots.
These additional costs were presented during recent budget deliberations.
Compliance & Legal:
Bill 20 repealed section 53.1 of the LAEA, effective October 31, 2024. Section 53.1 required that a bylaw providing for the number and types of identification required to be produced by a person to verify the person’s name and current address must be published at least once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper or other publication circulating in the area to which the proposed bylaw related and an outline of the procedure to be followed by anyone wishing to file a petition in respect of the proposed bylaw, as provided for in the MGA.
Bill 20 was proclaimed after 1st reading of Bylaw 27/2024, before 2nd and 3rd reading. This means that section 53.1 of the LAEA is no longer in effect. However, in order to mitigate the risk of any potential challenges down the road, the administration did comply with section 53.1 (as it was then in effect) and advertised its intention to pass the Municipal Elections Bylaw, which provides for the number and types of identification that are required to be produced by a person to verify the person’s name and current address in alignment with the requirements of Bill 20, in the October 3 and October 10 editions of Citylights.
The Bylaw is being brought back on December 17, 2024 for second and third reading.
Program or Service:
The prohibition on automated voting tabulators will have the largest impact on the delivery of the next municipal general election. Administration is planning on undertaking or participating in a mock count to get a better estimate of how long it will take results to come in, to gauge how many election workers will need to be hired for the manual count, and to gauge how long we need to rent spaces for the voting stations and the counting centre. However, for now, we are estimating that it will take until Friday at noon following the election Monday to release the results of the vote.
Organizational:
The workload on the Election team has increased due to the demands required by Bill 20. Council has approved funding for a temporary election worker position, which is expected to be filled soon. In the interim, Legislative Services staff are selecting and booking spaces for voting stations, beginning the process of acquiring software and hardware for the permanent electors register, preparing a plan for training of election workers (including counters), and researching the best methodologies for manual counting to ensure accurate results.
In addition to staff from Legislative Services, the Election team also consists of staff from Communications and Public Affairs, Information Technology Services, and Human Resources & Safety, and their capacities are being impacted by Bill 20. The team has been convened and is meeting regularly to ensure that the 2025 municipal general election is delivered as required.
We expect the indirect human resources costs to be high. We will need to provide extensive training, written operating procedures, careful vetting of prospective workers, and robust payroll and intake processes.
Risks
Bylaw 27/2024 needs to be approved in order to comply with the changes in Bill 20. Notwithstanding the approval of Bylaw 27/2024, there are risks associated with the delivery of the next municipal election.
• Reputational - There is a risk of delayed results due to manual counting of ballots, as well as risk of loss of trust in the electoral process due to these delays. Administration plans to hire more election workers and proactively communicate to the public regarding result timelines to mitigate these risks and increase public awareness.
• Operational - There is a risk that there will be a shortage of election workers due to the conflict in timing between the next municipal election and the next federal election. Administration may have to increase election worker salaries in order to retain workers.
• Compliance and Legal - There is a risk of not meeting the legislated deadline to submit official results. Administration will attempt to retain election workers and is planning to do the manual count in various shifts, 24 hours/day to mitigate against this risk.
• Financial - There are increased and uncertain costs associated with the next municipal election.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Initiative aligned with Strategic Plan:
Not Applicable
ALIGNMENT TO SERVICE DELIVERY
I.3 Municipal Elections and Democratic Processes
IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The following alternatives could be considered:
ALTERNATIVE 1: Council could propose amendments to Bylaw 27/2024 prior to approval of Bylaw 27/2024.
Financial:
No financial impacts expected; however, this is dependent on the nature of any amendments made.
Compliance & Legal:
None expected, as long as the amendments to Bylaw 27/2024 do not remove a requirement of Bill 20 from the Bylaw.
Program or Service:
This is dependent on the nature of the amendments made.
Organizational:
None expected.
Risks
This is dependent on the nature of any amendments made.
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Report Date: December 17, 2024
Author(s): Janice Vollrath, Marta Caufield
Department: Legal, Legislative & Records Services
Director: Marta Caufield
Chief Administrative Officer: Bill Fletcher