Inverness County Residents Elect New Council
INVERNESS COUNTY, NS – During the 2020 Municipal Elections, Inverness County residents elected 3 new Councillors and re-elected 1, with 2 other Councillors winning their seats by acclamation. The following Councillors were elected:
District 1: Alfred Poirier ACCLAIMED
District 2: Laurie Cranton ACCLAIMED
District 3: Bonny MacIsaac with 557 votes ELECTED
Gerry Poirier with 217 votes
Jim Mustard with 206 votes
Larry Lariviere with 112 votes
District 4: John MacLennan with 618 votes ELECTED
Jason Bernard with 265 votes
Christine Dowling with 76 votes
District 5: Lynn Chisholm with 540 votes ELECTED
Betty Ann MacQuarrie with 394 votes
Thom Oommen with 288 votes
District 6: Catherine L. Gillis with 737 votes ELECTED
John Dowling with 348 votes
Mary Jess MacDonald with 186 votes
Gerard Gillis with 109 votes
The following candidates were elected as members of the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial School Board:
- Philippe Haché with 565 votes ELECTED
- Joeleen Larade with 375 votes ELECTED
- Leonard LeFort with 341 votes
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Important Update for Electors
The Returning Officer for the Municipality of the County of Inverness provided an Amended List of Electors to the candidates running in the 2020 Municipal Election that displayed the birthdates of the Electors. The List of Electors is a confidential list that is not available for inspection or distribution and is to be used solely by the candidates as a reference guide for campaigning. Upon the conclusion of the election all electoral lists and copies are expected to be returned with an affidavit completed by each of the candidates that confirms they deleted or destroyed any electronic and physical copies. Personal information contained in the list of electors is protected under the Municipal Election Act. The use of this list for any other purpose would be considered a corrupt action under the Act.
Like other municipalities in Nova Scotia, the Municipality of the County of Inverness is allowing electronic, telephone and in-person voting. The Municipality has made every effort possible to make voting more accessible during this pandemic in order to ensure the health and safety of residents, staff, candidates, and election support workers.
The Municipality is utilizing phone and e-voting systems that have incorporated a rigid validation process and format to ensure the continued integrity and confidentiality of the voting process. Regardless of the release of the birthdates of electors, the Municipality has a multi-step audit process to validate the identity of the elector.
Voting irregularities are always a concern and using a relatively new method of voting, like e-voting, can heighten those concerns. The staff of the Municipality of the County of Inverness are taking the steps required to identify electors during the e-voting, telephone voting and in-person polling processes.