Potential Lethbridge city council candidates will now have to garner more signatures to run in elections. City council carried an amendment to the election bylaw, which will mean potential councillors will need 50 signatures and those wanting to run for mayor will need 100.
The motion came from the city’s governance standing policy committee, with a recommendation to defeat the changes. Councillor Nick Paladino started the discussion before it was sent to the committee for discussion.
“During the 2021 election, the city had 33 candidates run for councillor and six ran for the mayor’s chair. Shortly after the election, there was some talk around the difficulty in hosting the forums and open houses with such large numbers,” Paladino said. “Some electors found it onerous just viewing the candidates videos. Other complained about the unsightly numbers of lawn signs about the city, so that’s what started it all.”
The amendment carried with a 5-4 vote, with those opposed concerned it could create a barrier to running for council.
“At committee, I kept hoping that members of the public would show up or that we would hear some good reasons to increase the dollar figure, as well as the signatures,” said councillor Jeff Carlson. “I think we should be focused on encouraging people to be more involved in our democratic process than trying to dissuade them.”
The motion originally included adding a $100 deposit for council candidates and $250 for mayoral candidates, but councillor Ryan Parker asked to remove the deposit. He also asked council to increase the signature requirements from 25 to 50 for council and 50 to 100 for mayor.
“It’s not much of an onus asking someone to get at least 50 signatures to have your name brought forward and of course if someone can’t get 50 names, or 50 people to support them, then they shouldn’t be running for city council,” Parker said.
The next municipal election is set for October 2025.
