ST. PAUL – The Town of St. Paul is anticipating planning and budgeting challenges as it prepares for the 2025 municipal elections due to changes introduced by Bill 20.
The bill, which received royal assent last summer, will amend the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) and Municipal Government Act (MGA). It will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, according to information from the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
“What is different for this next election is the new requirement for a Permanent Electors Register,” said Aline Brousseau, Director of Planning and Development, during the Town of St. Paul council meeting on Nov. 12.
Municipalities are advised by Elections Alberta to provide a “data set to Elections Alberta by March 1, 2025,” and Elections Alberta will then provide an updated electors list by May 1, 2025, she said. “So, it leaves us from May 1 to October to prepare that list and get it ready” before the election, she said.
According to Brousseau, many other municipalities are concerned about this specific aspect of the bill, since they do not have the systems in place to easily compile the required data set for a Permanent Electors List.
“We’re in better shape, but there will be some issues that we need to resolve,” she said.
The town will also have to navigate new rules around recounts, scrutineers, and third-party advertising, as well as revisions to conflict-of-interest policies for elected officials.
Also, use of automated voting equipment like electronic tabulators will no longer be allowed, requiring a return to manual vote counting, said Brousseau.
"Many municipalities are choosing to outsource the Returning Officer and [Substitute] Returning Officer positions with recent job ad posts,” she added, due to the short timeline to implement changes.
Excluding Returning Officer positions, the 2025 municipal election will cost the Town about $45,000, according to Brousseau. In 2021, the costs were about $27,000.
CAO Steven Jeffery suggested the Town outsource a Returning Officer position. “I say that not because I don’t feel like we have people place - we absolutely do - and I have the utmost confidence in these people,” he said. “But they also have day jobs, and we have a lot on the go in our planning department here over the next year.”
“There are so many unknowns here,” said Mayor Maureen Miller, expressing concern about the tight timeline and potential costs associated with implementing the new requirements.
Miller said that while bigger cities might already have an electors list, many smaller municipalities do not. “We’ve never had [an] electors list,” said the mayor.
Following more discussion, council directed administration to investigate the costs of outsourcing of Returning Officer positions, as well as other associated costs related to the 2025 municipal election, and report back during future budget discussions.
