North Battleford voters will go to the polls April 16 for a municipal byelection.
The vote will fill the seat of former councillor Trent Houk, who resigned earlier this month citing family and other commitments.
City council unanimously approved the date at Monday's council meeting.
City Clerk Debbie Wohlberg had recommended April 16 to allow time for election preparations including advertising and finding election workers, as well as allowing the vacationing "snowbirds" to return and participate.
An earlier date of April 2 had also been considered, but that would have meant a fast turnaround for administration to get things ready.
The format for the civic byelection will differ from regular municipal votes, but should be similar to the last time a civic byelection was held.
That was on Sept. 14, 2011, when former councillor Brad Pattinson defeated six others to win the seat to replace Rhonda Seidel.
The plan is for the Lower Auditorium of the Civic Centre to be the only polling station. It will be open April 16 from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.
An advance poll will be set up in the North Battleford Public Library Tuesday, April 8, to run from 5 to 8 p.m. It will also be open Wednesday, April 9 from 5 to 9 p.m. A mobile poll will be provided on byelection day to accommodate anyone in personal care facilities and the hospital. Voters must apply by April 9 in order to vote in the mobile poll.
The attention of many in North Battleford now turns to who might run in the byelection vote, with interest already being expressed by potential candidates.
There is still plenty of time, though, for people to decide on whether to run. Nominations will begin to be accepted Thursday, Feb. 20 and will run until Tuesday, March 11 and nomination day March 12.
According to Wohlberg, to be eligible to run in the byelection, candidates must be 18 years old on the day of the byelection and be a Canadian citizen. Candidates must also have been a resident of Saskatchewan for at least six consecutive months and a resident of the City for at least three consecutive months immediately preceding the date on which nomination papers are submitted. Signatures from nominators will also be required when filing those papers.
