Gwichya Gwich'in Band extends
voting on proposed election code
Ratification effort to continue to June 15
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Friday, May 22, 2015
TSIIGETHCHIC/ARCTIC RED RIVER
The Gwichya Gwich'in Band in Tsiigehtchic is slowly increasing the number of votes it has received in a ratification effort for a new election code.
Gwichya Gwich'in Band has extended the voting period on an election to update the First Nation's election code. The band based in Tsiigehtchic, shown here. - photo courtesy of Darrell Christie via Wikimedia Commons
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However, it is still only halfway to the 20 per cent quorum it has set.
The band's referendum committee has therefore decided to extend the electronic and mail-in voting for a second time to June 15, which is election day for a chief and five councillors.
"We have been collecting more votes, but we still haven't hit the member quorum threshold yet for the referendum," said Graeme Drew, a Vancouver-based consultant working with the band on the proposed election code.
"The support level is about 71 per cent still in favour of supporting the code."
Drew said extending the ratification vote to June 15 will also allow band members to vote on the election code when they elect a chief and council.
And he thinks that may put the referendum turnout over the targeted 20 per cent.
As of May 14, there had been 36 votes cast in the ratification process.
A 20 per cent quorum of the 368 eligible voters in the band works out to 73 votes.
Lawrence Norbert, a member of the referendum committee and the election committee, is pleased with the extension and is hopeful the 20 per cent quorum will be reached.
He says he's not sure why the voting has been so slow up to now.
"There could be a whole bunch of factors. It's springtime. People are busy with traditional activities of hunting geese and ducks and heading out on the land for some of them," he said while adding with a laugh, "We're in deep competition against the Stanley Cup Playoffs."
Norbert also believes another factor may be voter apathy.
However, he pointed to the 59 per cent voter turnout in the recent Alberta provincial election as an encouraging sign.
"It gives me hope that there's going to be a renewed commitment by people to exercise their right to vote," he said.
As for what he would say to encourage band members to vote in the referendum, Norbert noted many people, including the Gwich'in, have served in the military and helped preserve the democratic right to vote.
"It's almost to me like a slap in their face that people don't go out and exercise that most fundamental right of democracy, which is the right to vote," he said.
"If anything, I would say honour a veteran and vote."
Because of the high level of support for the election code among those who have voted in the referendum, it will be used for the June 15 election.
"There isn't any reason to believe that there's anything fundamentally wrong with it," said Drew.
Among the reasons for the referendum are to ensure the new code has support of band members and would stand up to any court challenge.
A polling station was set up in Tsiigehtchic on April 15 for band members to vote on the election code.
The electronic voting online and by telephone also began in April and is believed to be the first time such voting has taken place in the territory.
One advantage of electronic voting is it allows easier participation by members of the Gwichya Gwich'in Band living outside of Tsiigehtchic. Only about 70 members of the band live in the community.
Mail-in ballots will continue to be accepted until June 12.
The new custom election code means a number of changes, including extending the terms for chief and councillors from two to three years, eliminating proxy voting, providing a process to amend the code and empowering an impartial body to oversee elections.
Drew expects electronic voting will be used for the June 15 election for chief and council.
Nominations for the band election are open until May 25.
Tsiigehtchic is a charter community and a municipal election for two councillors will also be held on June 15 at the same polling station, but with different ballots.
