Province responds to Lethbridge city council about Local Authorities Election Act

Lethbridge city council has received a response from the province as to why it's changing the Local Authorities Election Act.

Lethbridge city council has received a response from the province as to why it’s making changes to the Local Authorities Election Act—or Bill 20—ahead of the municipal election in October.

In December, Coun. Rajko Dodic wrote a letter to the Alberta government asking for a rationale as to why the province has amended Bill 20 to move away from electronic tabulators in the municipal election.

The city says the change will come with a price tag of more than $300,000, which will be left to the city to pay.

In response to the letter, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver says the ministry was given a mandate from the premier to strengthen public trust in local elections.

The letter says having returning officers hand-count and verify paper ballots can help reassure Albertans that the election process is safe.

The city will now send another letter asking to be given the democratic option to choose whether they can count ballots manually or by tabulation and that the province cover the additional costs put on the city.

“It wasn’t wise, and I hope the province would agree with the city and other municipalities. ... There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind when you find out the best way was the way you had done before,” Dodic said.

With the changes to Bill 20, the city says election results are expected to take four to five days before being released.

The city undertook two test runs for counting ballots by hand.

On average, it took roughly 28 minutes to count 50 ballots.