A couple of recent decisions from Elections BC that have had a few people scratching their heads:
1) During the by-election in Vancouver-Point Grey, Christy Clark was handing out lunches to volunteer scrutineers at the Queen Mary Elementary School polling station on Trimble Street, which some saw as a possible violation of Section 93 (3) of the Elections Act. Apparently, Elections BC didn't agree with this take, and believes that Christy Clark's actions on May 11th were legal, but there may remain some confusion as to measures of distance involved...
2) Meanwhile, one day after NDP complaints about a delay in selecting a replacement for interim Chief Electoral Officer Craig James, the bi-partisan committee tasked with finding this replacement announced the new CEO of Elections BC, effective September 1st of this year: Alberta academic Keith Archer.
On the face of it, this second issue isn't much of a head-scratcher, particularly when compared to item one. But I've written a little about Craig James' decisions while running Elections BC, including some of his restructuring and even his appointment to the CEO position, and I think it's worth noting that there will soon be a new sheriff in town. With the results of the HST Referendum coming up this summer, a possible early provincial election, and a round of municipal elections slated for this year, who is in charge, when they're in charge, and what they do when they're in charge could become very, very important in the months to come. Would Keith Archer have made the same decision regarding Ms. Clark's proximity to a polling station? Will his methods differ from Craig James on the HST file?
Elections BC just got a whole lot more exciting.
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