Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 27/99) - When Yellowknife's Pam Dunbar completes training to be a returning officer, she will be adding valuable experience to previous campaign work.

Dunbar is set to be one of the seven Yellowknife returning officers and will represent the new riding of Weledeh.

She has done enumerating both for the city and for the federal government as well as census work for census Canada.

In addition, the teacher and consultant has been a deputy returning officer as well as a poll clerk.

"It's a good way to get to know your community and to make some sort of contribution to democracy in your community," the 11-year Weledeh resident said.

"I think it's quite exciting to be part of the first election in the new NWT and it will be interesting to get to know the territories in a different way. We now have 19 ridings and that's a big change from the last election."

Training and information co-ordinator, Brian Armstrong, said enumerating is set to start Sept. 9 and will run until Sept. 17.

But before that it will be up to the returning officers to hire and train the enumerators.

"That will be the first task," Armstrong said of the returning officers.

"Then there will be a bit of a lull until probably the second week of October when they can get their offices sorted out."

The writ is set to be dropped on Oct. 22.

The first 10 days will be the nomination period when people will be coming in with questions about running and filling in nomination forms.

"Returning officers accept the nomination packages. People come in for the packages and it's the returning officers who provide the information," said Armstrong.

"On top of that, it's an office where people can just drop in and get information such as what electoral district they're in and where they'll be voting -- stuff like that."

Some other key dates coming up are Oct. 22 through Nov. 15 when mail-in ballots are available for those who will not be in the NWT on voting day.

Voting by the mail-in ballots will be between Oct. 16 and Dec. 3.

Voting at the office of the returning officer will be between Nov. 22 and Dec. 3.

"There will have to be a ballot box set up and a voting booth where people can come in and swear an oath," Armstrong said.

The advance poll is set to be on Nov. 25 and election day for most people will be on Dec. 6.