SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Some municipalities have their election signs up, while others are forced to wait a bit longer
When it comes to municipal election signage, like in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.
Candidates in Stratford and Cornwall have already put up election signs for the Nov. 5 municipal elections in their communities. However, they aren’t permitted to go up yet in Charlottetown or Summerside.
Candidates can start putting up election signs in Charlottetown as of Saturday, Oct. 6 while in Summerside, they can start going up on Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Elections P.E.I., which will conduct the elections in the four largest municipalities — Charlottetown, Summerside, Stratford and Cornwall — for the Nov. 5 vote, doesn’t even consider the election officially underway until the writ is dropped on Oct. 9.
Tim Garrity, chief electoral officer with Elections P.E.I., said signage for elections in Charlottetown falls under the city’s own signage bylaw.
“Of course, every municipality has (its) own bylaws so rules are different,’’ Garrity said. “If anyone has any questions for us we’ve been sending them off to the planning department of the city.’’
Garrity said there are no rules restricting election signage in Cornwall and Stratford, so candidates are free to choose when the signs go up.
“You will see that they both have signage up already because there are no bylaws in those municipalities
when it comes to election signage.’’
This begs the question why the new Municipalities Government Act doesn’t have one set of dates pertaining to signage for all four municipalities. Instead, the act is silent on the matter. The act stipulates that each municipality is to set up dates through a bylaw.
“Now, that being said, our recommendation, being Elections P.E.I., is that they come up with a common set of bylaws for some of these things. And that will be a recommendation coming forward from Elections P.E.I., just for simplicity sake, so that everybody is aware of the same rules.’’
Maybe, for example, it would be that signs can’t be erected until the election period begins, which is Oct. 9.
For those interested in running for election, the nomination period runs from Oct. 10 until 2 p.m. on Oct. 19. Candidates need to file nomination papers during this period. They also need to have been a resident of the municipality for at least six months to run for municipal council, along with meeting the age and citizenship requirements.
An extended nomination period will be held if there are not enough nominations to fill the required number of seats. Municipalities are required to provide notice of the extended nomination period.