Chatham-Kent residents thinking about running in the upcoming municipal election will now have less time to fill out their forms.
Director of Municipal Governance Judy Smith says candidates will see a number of differences in the nomination and campaign process as a result of changes to the Municipal Elections Act.
"The campaign for the upcoming election will no longer be 37 weeks as it has been previously, it's now down to 13 weeks. Nominations will open on May 1 of 2018 and they'll close on July 27," says Smith.
According to Smith, the nomination period used to close in September. She says the shortened nomination period gives the municipality more time to prepare for the upcoming municipal election on Monday, October 22, 2018.
"There's probably many reasons of why the changes were made to shorten the nomination, but it does also assist municipal clerks when preparing for the election. The shorter period ending in July allows us to more time to prepare ballots and different stuff like that for the election," she explains.
Smith says the July closing date gives candidates more time to prepare their campaigns. Likewise, she adds that the extra time at the beginning of the year also allows candidates more time to prepare their nomination forms.
"Before it opened January 1 and the change now is to May, so it has been shortened by four months at the beginning. This may allow people more time to contemplate whether they do want to run or not," says Smith.
Another change to the Municipal Elections Act is that candidates are now required to collect 25 endorsement signatures from eligible electors. Smith says eligible electors must be Canadian citizens, 18 years or older, reside or own land within the municipality, and must not be prohibited by law to vote.
According to Smith, signatures were not required in previous years.
Forms for endorsement signatures will be available on the municipal website before nominations begin.
The fees for filing nominations are now $200 for the position of mayor and $100 for the position of councillor or school board trustee. Campaign contributions cannot be collected until nomination forms are filed with the clerk’s office.
More information about the election process is available on municipality's website. Any questions can be emailed to the clerk at ckelection@chatham-kent.ca.