Election candidates in Okotoks will not be asked to provide a criminal record check to run in future municipal elections.
Municipalities can now require record checks for election candidates after the option was introduced by the provincial government when election rules were overhauled as part of Bill 20.
Okotoks council members voted unanimously to not ask for record checks during their meeting on Nov. 25.
Mayor Tanya Thorn said they aren’t required at other levels of government.
“I'm not sure how it makes any difference at a municipal level if the province and the feds don't require it,” Thorn said. “I don't see the value that that's going to bring.”
A candidate's record check would have been publicly available with other nomination materials, and Coun. Brent Robinson raised concerns about how the Town would handle that information or how long it would be kept for.
“I think there’s more headaches that come from it, than problems it actually solves,” Robinson said.
Edmonton council decided not to ask for record checks, but Calgary opted to make them a requirement.
In Okotoks, the decision not to ask for record checks was made as Town council approved new election procedures in response to other changes made by Bill 20 to the Local Authorities Elections Act.
Those changes include requirements for municipalities to keep a permanent voters registry and to hand-count ballots.
Polling stations in Okotoks will be open shorter hours, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., to accommodate manual counting.
The stations previously opened at 6 a.m., but the Town wants to reduce hours for election workers and estimates that it could take six hours to count ballots by hand.
Vote tabulators and electronic voting machines can no longer be used to count ballots. The are also new provisions for special ballots.
The next municipal election takes place in October 2025.
