Elections & Other Voting

    Elections

    Elections for Electoral Area Directors to represent the electoral areas within the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) occur every four (4) years.   For the 2022 General Local Election, there was only one candidate for each of the 5 Electoral Areas within the Regional District of North Okanagan. These 5 persons have been acclaimed to their Director positions for a four-year term, ending in October of 2026. The next General Local Elections will be held on October 17, 2026.

    The Regional District of North Okanagan is comprised of 5 Electoral Areas and 6 Municipal partners. The 6 Municipal partners include the City of Armstrong, District of Coldstream, City of Enderby, Village of Lumby, Township of Spallumcheen, and the City of Vernon.  As part of the General Local Election system in British Columbia, Electoral Area Directors may be elected by acclamation (in the case of a single qualified candidate) or by voting (where there is more than one qualified candidate). Each Municipal Director on the Board of Directors is appointed by their respective Council from amongst their elected members.

    Assent Voting (Referendum)

    For certain matters (long term borrowing, establishment of new services), local governments are required to obtain elector approval (Assent Voting (Referendum)) before the bylaw(s) can be adopted and the project can proceed.  Assent Voting may be used either because this method of assent is required under the Local Government Act or because this method is preferred by the local government.

    Alternate Approval Process

    The Local Government Act and Community Charter gives the Board of Directors an alternate option to seeking approval of the electors by referendum: the alternative approval process (AAP). It is a less costly and less time consuming way of asking the electorate’s permission to proceed with the adoption of, for example, a borrowing bylaw. If at least 10 per cent of the estimated number of electors oppose the bylaw, agreement or other matter in question, it must be taken to a formal referendum vote before it can be adopted.